The Hindu Business Line : Indian aviation industry may post $1.5-b losses this year

New Delhi, Oct. 23 The Indian aviation industry is likely to post a loss of about $1.5 billion or almost 42 per cent of the $3.6-billion losses that Asian carriers are likely to post during 2009, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, International Air Transport Association (IATA), Mr Giovanni Bisignani, said here on Friday.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Bisignani said that “logically most of these losses will come from Air India.” The Geneva-based IATA is predicting that the global industry will post a loss of $11 billion this year and it will be another three-to-four years before it returns to profitability.

“The worst is over but it will still take some time for the industry to recover,” Mr Bisignani said.

On the issue of strike by the pilots of Jet Airways and Air India, he said “there have been strikes all over and not just in India. In these difficult times, we would expect better understanding between the managements and the employees.”

Pointing out that aviation infrastructure was a problem, Mr Bisignani said that user charges and the airport development fee was also a problem.

Meanwhile, IATA has reiterated its call for a global sectoral approach led by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to handle aviation’s emissions in the post-Kyoto period.

“We need a global solution that can encompass all aviation — incorporating the differing situation of airlines from developed and developing nations. The best hope of this is through ICAO which has a proven track record,” said Mr Bisignani.

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