World Air Passenger Traffic Up 9.4 Percent

International air passenger traffic rose 9.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2005, but high fuel prices are robbing the industry of profits, the International Air Transport Association said today.

Average passenger loading amounted to 73.7 percent of capacity, while freight traffic grew 4.2 percent during the period, the Geneva-based organization said. Figures were slightly distorted as the quarter included the Easter holiday this year but not in 2004, it said.

But IATA said airlines still remained a ´long way from profitability´, while fuel - accounting for 20 percent of operating cost - was in the range of $50 a barrel.

Even at an average of $43 a barrel during 2005, the fuel bill for the industry this year will exceed $76 billion, up from some $63 billion last year, it said.

At the start of the year, IATA forecast that its members could make an overall profit of $1.2 billion in 2005. But earlier this month Bisignani predicted an industry loss of $5.5 billion, blaming it on the high price of fuel.

Airlines have been reeling since hijacked civilian aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the US on September 11 2001. Last year, airlines posted losses of an estimated $4.8 billion, bringing losses to nearly $36 billion since 2001.

Intensified cost-cutting and better aircraft utilization are steps in the right direction, IATA said.

Electronic ticketing is IATA´s top priority to help simplify the industry with the potential to save $3 billion a year. IATA said 26 percent of all tickets were issued electronically and processed through its settlement systems in the first quarter. It said it was on track to meet its target of 40% by year-end and stop printing paper tickets by the end of 2007.

The Geneva-based body, whose statistics do not include domestic traffic, has 265 member airlines representing 94% of international scheduled air traffic.