IATA Firms Up Profit Forecast But Europe Still Lags

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has issued an improved forecast for global airline profits this year, but the latest projections point to more pain for Europe’s carriers. IATA now predicts the world’s airlines will achieve a combined profit of $4.1 billion this year ($1.1 billion higher than its last projection of $3 billion made in June 2012). But the industry group sees the net profit margin falling from the 1.4 percent achieved in 2011 to 0.6 percent in 2012 (although this will be up from 0.5 percent in its June forecast).