“China was a big part of that,” he said. “Things came out better than we anticipated in terms of the strength of demand, and the downside risks we’d anticipated just didn’t materialize.”
Global airlines are poised to generate record revenue this year and will extend the gains in 2024 as the industry decisively shakes off the Covid-19 pandemic, even as higher interest rates hold back profit growth.
Industry profit is forecast to reach US$23.3 billion this year, the International Air Transport Association said Wednesday, more than double what the trade body expected in June and a near quintupling of its outlook at the start of the year. The better-than-expected performance was partly down to China’s reopening, said IATA’s director of policy and economics, Andrew Matters, at an event in Geneva.
