A leading aviation analyst has challenged the notion that travel’s recovery from Covid-19 will continue to outweigh the difficult economic outlook, describing such optimism as “misplaced”.
Chris Tarry said there was not only “an increasingly difficult economic background”, but also “a cost base impacted by higher fuel prices” and “significant pay increases for pilots and cabin crew”.
He warned: “Optimism of demand continuing to be strong at recent price levels is misplaced.”
His comments came as Iata, the international airlines organisation, added its weight to forecasts that the industry could fly through the deteriorating demand outlook, predicting carriers would record a total profit of $4.7 billion in 2023.
Iata director general Willie Walsh said there would be “financial recovery, with a first industry profit since 2019” next year, and insisted “we’ve turned the corner to profitability”.
However, he also noted that: “Airline profitability is razor‑thin.”