In Brief

Benefits of Alliances and Joint Ventures - Nov 11
Research discussing potential for pro-competitive efficiency gains and benefits for consumers from airline alliances and joint ventures.
Full report (pdf)

Vision 2050: Shaping the Industry's Future - Jun 11
Output from the IATA initiative to envision how the air transport industry can serve the needs of the customer of the future in an environmentally and financially sustainable manner. More...

Analysis of UK APD proposals - Jun 11
IATA analysis of proposed changes to UK Air Passenger Duty indicates they would be positive for the broader economy an address inequites of the current system.
Full report (pdf)

Premium air travel drivers - Mar 11
This research identifies and quantifies, through an econometric model, the various factors related to the number of premium passengers - an important segment, particularly for hotels and network airlines, but also for others in the travel and tourism value chain.
Full report (pdf)

Impact of Japan Earthquake - Mar 11
Analysis of the economic and air transport market impact of  the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
Full report (pdf)

Impact of Ash Plume - May 10
Analysis of the impact on industry operations and revenues from the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano in April 2010.
Full report (pdf)

Airline Profits 2008 - Feb 10
Analysis of the 2008 results for 233 major airlines shows that record fuel prices and the impact of the great recession hit profitability across scale and business model.
Full report (pdf)

Airline Fuel & Labour Costs - Feb 10
Analysis of airline financial data to 2008 shows the trends in fuel and labour costs.  Fuel remains the largest cost category, with regional variation.
Full report (pdf)

Enhanced Economic Briefings - Nov 09
Access IATA chart data and additional video commentary from Chief Economist.
International Traffic     Premium Traffic
Industry Outlook          Business Confidence
Download sample (pdf, 7mb)

Infrastructure Costs - July 09
Charges paid by airlines and their customers for infrastructure usage rose sharply during the 1990s recession and may again this downturn.
Full report (pdf)

Air Freight and World Trade - Apr 09
Air freight has proved to be a very timely indicator of overall world trade and will provide early signal of a turning point in the current recession. Full report (pdf)

Impact of Recession - Dec 08
Recession in major markets is now driving a significant fall in traffic in 2009.  See Jun 09 forecast for latest analysis.
Full report (pdf)

The case for liberalisation
Presentation outlining the benefits to consumers, industry and economies of greater commercial freedoms for air transport.   Presentation (pdf)

Traffic Forecast 2007-2011
Passenger and freight demand growth will continue to provide a positive boost to airline revenues over the five years to 2011.
Complete briefing (pdf)

Air Freight Market Outook 2007
Key trends and outlook for the air freight market over the years ahead.
Complete briefing (pdf)

Airline Profitability 2006
Analysis of changes in airline operating profitability over the last year and ranking of top 30 most profitable airlines.
Complete briefing (pdf)

Airline Fuel and Labour Costs
Fuel has replaced labour as the largest single cost item for the global airline industry in 2006.
Complete briefing (pdf)

WATS 51st Edition
The 2007 World Air Transport Statistics show that strong, but slower, traffic growth and efficiency improvements led to improved financial performance for the world's airlines in 2006.
Complete briefing (pdf)

Aircraft Orders 2006
Aircraft orders have dropped slightly from 2005's record total but still remain high. Deliveries are being well managed compared to previous cycles.
Complete report (pdf)

UK APD Increase
Climate benefits of 53 million versus GDP losses of 400 million plus losses to air travellers suggest this policy has not been put to a cost-benefit test. It may provide the Chancellor with an extra 1 billion in revenues and enhances his green credentials but it makes little economic sense.
Complete report (pdf)

Traffic Forecast 2006 - 2010
The airline industry is forecast to see a period of slower but more profitable growth over the next five years.
Complete report (pdf)

Premium Traffic Briefing
Sustained growth in traffic over 18 months. Premium traffic 11% of total international and 14-15% on long-haul routes. Growth on Europe-Asia and Middle East routes, but intra-Europe declining. Impacted by terrorist threat and US-led economic slowdown.
Complete report (pdf)

European Aviation Taxes
Airlne passengers are already highly taxed in Europe. IATA estimates that the tax burden was at least 5.9 billion in 2004.
Complete report (pdf)
 
Profitability: Does Size Matter?
Last year eight airlines made operating profits over $500m, three earning more than $1bn. However, there is no correlation of size with profit margins and only a slight link with operating profits.
Complete report (pdf)

Airport Regulation 
A good airport regulatory structure - providing better rather than just increased regulation - can benefit both airports and airlines in terms of greater efficiency and low and stable financing costs.
Complete Report (pdf)

The value added by airlines
The value added by the global airline industry is estimated to be $140 to 145 billion in 2004. However, little of the value created accrued to financial investors in the industry.
Complete report (pdf)

New aircraft orders
Peak aircraft deliveries in 1991 and 1999 were followed by a slump in airline profitability. Delivery of the record aircraft orders in 2005 are spread out over time and concentrated in fast growing Asian markets. Some risks remain.
Complete report (pdf)

Air freight prospects improving
Air freight transports goods worth over $3 trillion annually, but volumes slowed sharply last year. An economic recovery in Europe, the largest market, and in the key IT sector, in Asia, promise stronger freight growth in 2006.
Complete report (pdf)

Airline profitability; US versus the rest
US airlines generated all of the $42 billion of net losses suffered by the global airline industry during 2001-2005. But it's not just a US problem. Even the profits made outside the US were insufficient to pay investors a 'normal' return on capital.
Complete report (pdf)

Air travel for the rich or mass transportation?
Governments treat air transport as a luxury good. This is no longer true. The evidence is that over the past 30 years citizens from the middle-income groups have come to dominate travel markets.
Complete report (pdf)

The cost of EU regulation
The annual cost to EU airlines of the regulations imposed on them in Europe is estimated to be at least 5.9 billion. Since 2001 this financial burden has risen by more than 2.5 billion.
Complete report (pdf)