Airline Traffic, Cargo Face `Alarming Drop': Chart of the Day

[marmar]

Airline Traffic, Cargo Face `Alarming Drop': Chart of the Day

By Lee J. Miller and Marco Babic

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Airline traffic fell in September for the first time since the SARS virus outbreak in 2003, and lower oil prices probably won't spur demand amid a widening economic slowdown, the International Air Transport Association said.

Passenger traffic declined 2.9 percent from the same month a year earlier, the first shrinkage since the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, while cargo traffic fell 7.7 percent, the worst decline since the ``technology bubble burst in 2001,'' IATA, which represents 250 carriers, said in a statement.

The CHART OF THE DAY shows international passenger traffic, air cargo and the price of a barrel of crude oil since 2003, based on monthly data compiled by Bloomberg and IATA. Plane loads have lightened this year even as carriers have cut flights and oil plunged by more than half since its peak in July.

``The deterioration in traffic is alarmingly fast-paced and widespread,'' IATA Chief Executive Officer Giovanni Bisignani said in a statement. ``Up to August, the drop in international passenger traffic was isolated to Asia-Pacific carriers,'' he said. ``For September, all major regions reported that passenger traffic shrank, with the exception of Latin American carriers,'' which posted growth of only 1.7 percent.

The industry could benefit from the repeal of regulations that limit landing rights in most countries and ``preclude mergers across borders,'' he said.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aStrQFd4AhcY&refer=home

[madrchsod]

1. the airlines make the most money on the cargo in the holds..

not the passengers in the seats