Airline industry returns to profit, but Europe struggles behind ash cloud

The airline industry with earn $2.5bn in profits worldwide in 2010, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Monday, scrapping an estimate for a $2.8bn deficit as the economy rebounds.

The global economy is improving from the depths of the financial crisis much more quickly than could have been anticipated, IATA Chief Executive Officer Giovanni Bisignani said today in a statement to the organization’s annual conference in Berlin. Airlines are promoting from a strong traffic rebound that is pushing the industry into the black.

Collective revenue is predict to total $545bn this year, up 13pc from $483bn in 2009, when the industry lost about $10bn. IATA says it will take two years instead of three for sales to recover to peak levels, given predictable growth in 2010 of 7pc in Asia and 3.3pc in the U.S.

In spite of the general recovery, European airlines will lose about $2.8bn in 2010, IATA says, $600m more than the March estimate.