Global airlines, which posted US$2.8 billion loss previous year, are expected to turnaround and attain a profit of US$2.5 billion this year, of which the Asia-Pacific carriers would account for US$2.2 billion, the international airlines body IATA said here on Monday.

The association asked governments crosswise the world to allow a level-playing field to the aviation industry and allow airlines to build efficiencies across borders and the labor to see cause and not to go on strike.

Noting that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects airlines to post a worldwide profit of US$2.5 billion in 2010, its director general and chief executive Giovanni Bisignani said this is a main improvement compared with IATA’s previous predict of a US$2.8-billion loss released in March.

Addressing the IATA annual common meeting here, he laid out a vision for the industry in 2050, saying, in just a couple of decades, the demographics of our customer base will modify dramatically. The middle class will almost triple from 1.3 to 3.5 billion people.
India and China will account for a quarter of these possible travelers. At about the same time, the GDP of BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) will identical the G-7 nations, shifting cargo flows dramatically. Regarding passenger traffic, he said the Asia-Pacific carriers would persist to benefit from the strong regional enlargement and the Asian economies, excluding Japan, would rise by 7 per cent this year.