Air traffic improved in January

Published 3:41 pm Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Both passenger and freight air traffic increased in January, compared to the previous year. But an industry group still predicts airlines will remain in the red in 2010.

Passenger traffic increased 6.4 percent in January over the first month of 2009. And air freight traffic was up 28 percent, reporter the International Air Transport Association on Tuesday.

Air traffic reached its low point in the early months of 2009. Therefore, the large year-over-year increases actually reflect a steady improvement in air traffic in the last several months rather than a huge boost in January 2010 traffic, the group reported.

“Airlines have lost 2 to 3 years of growth,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO. “Demand is moving in the right direction. The 3 percent increase in freight volumes from December to January is particularly encouraging. We can start to see the future with some cautious optimism, but better volumes do not necessarily mean better profits.”

IATA predicts airline losses in 2010 of $5.6 billion.