Airlines' fuel bills 'to rise by $24bn'
4 December 2006



Airlines around the world will pay an extra $24 billion in fuel costs this year, compared to 2005, an aviation expert revealed in Bahrain yesterday.

The industry's fuel bill will increase from $44bn in 2003 to $115bn by the end of this year, said International Air Transport Association (IATA) economist Mark Smyth.

"However, airline confidence in future profitability has improved in line with the fall in oil prices," he told an Arab Air Carriers Organisation (AACO)/ IATA Regulatory Affairs Forum-Middle East.

Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) Under-Secretary Captain Abdulrahman Al Gaoud opened the two-day forum, at the Bahrain Conference Centre, Crowne Plaza, yesterday.

He said Bahrain was proud to host the joint regulatory affairs forum, being held for the first time in the Middle East.

Air transport industry in the Middle East is characterised by a dramatic growth in traffic, he said.

"In Bahrain, under the directives of Deputy Premier and Transportation Minister Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, our international airport is undergoing a massive expansion, to cope with the unprecedented growth in traffic," said Capt Al Gaoud.

Mr Smyth said the Middle East was taking about half of the total wide-bodied aircraft now being manufactured, because of the traffic growth in the region.

"Of a population of 380 million in the Middle East and North Africa, the number of international air passengers has reached 62m and domestic passengers 19m," he said.

"Asia will see the largest absolute growth in the volume of traffic, taking 220m additional passengers a year.

"Though there is a slowdown in US economy, the economic growth in Asia and the Middle East, especially in China and India, will support the global economy in the years to come."

AACO secretary-general Abdul Wahab Teffaha said the organisation's 39th general assembly held in Kuwait last week addressed controversial issues such as open skies, privatisation, taxes and safety.

"Safety will continue to be the highest priority for the industry, and airlines which fail to adhere to the highest safety standards will be denied membership in the organisation in future," he said. "The general assembly also supported the open-skies policy as we are moving towards a single aviation market."


<< Press releases main page