IATA: Airlines claw back market share from other transport modes

IATA: Airlines claw back market share from other transport modes Geneva-based International Air Transport Association said Monday that August’s 6 percent rise for international air freight demand was the strongest rate of growth for 16 months and indicates that airlines may be winning back market share from other transport modes.
   'While the credit crunch clearly shook both business and consumer confidence in August, demand for air travel remained solid with record high load factors for August,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general and chief executive officer.
   “This, combined with strong revenues over the first half of the year, is behind our improved industry profitability forecast of $5.6 billion for 2007. Nonetheless, the industry's financial situation remains fragile and the potential for weakening demand must continue to be met with improved efficiency across the value chain.
   'The trend of increasing load factors is a concrete example of how aviation's business and environmental goals are aligned with efficiency as a common denominator. As governments continue to squabble over emissions trading in the aftermath of the triennial assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the industry is getting on with the business of meeting consumer demand with ever-improving environmental performance,' Bisignani said.
   IATA, which represents more than 240 airlines comprising 94 percent of international scheduled air traffic, said that growth for the year-to-date is 3.9 percent.