IATA Predicts N109.3bn Loss For Nigeria, Other African Carriers In 2019
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has predicted that Nigeria and other African countries will experience bleak 2019 in their aviation industry with a record $300 million (an estimated N109.350bn) loss for the continent’s airlines.
The association, representing some 290 airlines and controlling 82 per cent of global traffic, also said the global airline industry net profit would be $35.5 billion in 2019, slightly ahead of the $32.3bn expected net profit in 2018. The expectation was actually revised from the initial $33.8bn forecast in June 2018.
For carriers in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Latin America, IATA said they are to post $16.6bn, $7.4bn, $10.4bn, $800m and $700m net profits respectively next year.
The report emailed to our correspondent, yesterday, indicated that the margin on net post-tax profits is expected to be 4.0 per cent, nearly unchanged from the 3.9 per cent expected for 2018.
Other highlights of the forecast are that overall industry revenues are expected to reach $885bn (+7.7% on $821bn in 2018).
Passenger numbers are expected to reach 4.59bn, up from 4.34bn expected in 2018.
Also, cargo tonnes carried are expected to reach 65.9m, up from 63.7m in 2018. However the prediction shows slower demand growth for passenger traffic (+6.0% in 2019, +6.5% in 2018) and cargo (+3.7% in 2019, +4.1% in 2018).
In the African region, the report forecasts that the expected net loss per passenger is $3.51 (-2.1% net margin). There are fears Nigeria would be most hit by the loss.
“This makes Africa the weakest region, as it has been over the past four years. Performance is improving, but only slowly. Losses are expected to be cut in 2019 as fuel prices decrease.
“The region benefits from higher-than-average yields and lower operating costs in some categories. However, few airlines in the region are able to achieve adequate load factors to generate profits,” Director-General of IATA, Alexandre de Juniac, said.
