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Better years ahead
February 1st 2014
A new Lunar year commences on January 31. If the forecasters are accurate, the Year of the Horse promises a better twelve months for the industry than for many a year. Read More »
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently upgraded its global profit forecast for 2014 by $3.3 billion, to $19.7 billion. After a third consecutive year of declining profits, Asia-Pacific airlines are expected to reverse this trend in 2014 and be in the black to the tune of $4.1 billion.
Yields remain depressed, but passenger numbers across the region are predicted to maintain their annual growth rate of 6%. Only the flat freight market is holding back a full return to regional airline health. But even this sector has recently reported signs of recovery – if gradual.
The IATA 2013-2017 industry forecast said the next three years will produce a 31% increase in global passengers, to 3.91 billion, with Asia-Pacific and Middle East nations contributing the biggest number of travelers to this predicted growth.
Routes within, or connected to China, will be the largest drivers of airline expansion, said IATA, as they will account for 24% of new passengers during the forecast period.
The fortunes of Orient Aviation, like the region’s airlines, ebb and flow as global economic cycles peak and dip. As a new year unfolds, the Orient Aviation team would like to pay tribute to everyone who has stood by us in these challenging times – our thousands of readers across the globe, the industry leaders who have given so generously of their time to talk to us and the loyal advertisers who have stuck with us through the thick and thin of the global economy in the last two decades. Thank you.
Those born in the Year of the Horse are reputed to be very hardworking, practical and quick witted. They also can be stubborn and unreconciled to failure. The aviation industry has hardly been short of these qualities in recent years. We have no doubt they will also come in handy again – despite the optimistic forecasts - in an industry where new operational challenges and crises of all kinds are never far away.
