Rising demand for air travel will boost sector profits by 11.3% this year to more than 28,143 million euros, IATA, the International Air Transport Association, said. After years of uncertainty, the company is already seeing profitability improve in its half-year guidance report. In 2023, airlines around the world earned 25.283 million euros.
According to estimates released this Monday, it is expected that Total revenue in 2024 will grow 9.7% year over year to nearly $1 trillion. ($996,000 million / €919,058 million). In turn, the increase in expenses will be slightly lower – 9.4% and amount to approximately 863.693 million euros.
An increase in demand will lead to The number of travelers surpasses a historical high and reaches 5 billion people.. Specifically, IATA expects around 4.96 billion people to travel during 2024, an all-time high that will exceed 2023 and 2019 figures. In addition, cargo volumes are estimated at 62 million tons.
IATA chief executive Willie Walsh says the aviation sector is on track to achieve sustainable profits but “still has a long way to go”. “The return on capital employed of 5.7% is significantly lower than the cost of capital, which exceeds 9%. And earning just $6.14 per passenger is an indication of how meager our profits are, barely enough to pay for coffee in many parts of the world. “,” Walsh complained.
As such, he said that to improve profitability, it was “necessary” to address supply chain issues so that fleets could be “efficiently” used to meet demand.