Eurozone crisis grounds Iata’s industry outlook

The impact of the Eurozone crisis has played a key role in the International Air Transport Association’s revised industry outlook, released last week. For 2011, profitability remains weak but unchanged at $6.9 billion for a net margin of 1.2%. For 2012, it has downgraded its central forecast for airline profits from $4.9 billion to $3.5 billion for a net margin of 0.6%. “In a worst case scenario, should the Eurozone crisis evolve into a full-blown banking crisis and European recession, the organisation estimates that the global aviation industry could suffer losses exceeding $8 billion in 2012,” according to Iata.