Terror to weigh down airlines: Industry body

New Delhi: Terror aftereffects would weigh down country’s ailing airline industry which might see a sharp drop in air travel, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA) today.
The apex air travel body has predicted a major shift in performance of carriers in region’s two main growth markets — India and China. IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani said the airline industry in these two “robust emerging markets” would face “a much more substantial slowdown” in 2009, and asked the the two governments to take corrective steps. “India’s carriers, which are already struggling with high taxes and insufficient infrastructure, can expect a drop in demand following the tragic Terror incidents in November,” said the IATA.
Bisignani said that governments must stop “crazy taxation, fix the infrastructure, give airlines normal commercial freedoms and effectively regulate monopoly suppliers”.
Forecasting a rather bleak outlook for the industry, IATA said the chronic industry crisis would continue into 2009 with $2.5 billion in losses, the worst revenue environment in 50 years or since the World War II.
10/12/08 Indian Express

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Dec 2008