03 December 2009

ITB: Flat is the new growth for airlines

BERLIN - The latest ITB World Travel Trends Report, compiled by the consultancy IPK International, finds a short to mid-term rise in the price of airline tickets is to be expected worldwide.

Travellers will have to bear the cost of anticipated increases in taxes and charges by paying extra for tickets, according to the report.

The ITB World Travel Trends Report indicates that in order to become profitable again airlines will have to significantly adjust their ticket prices.

The findings are based on the assessments of 60 tourism experts from 30 countries, on a special IPK International trend analysis undertaken in leading source markets, and on core data supplied by the World Travel Monitor, recognised as the largest ongoing survey of global travel trends in some 60 source countries.

The report notes that Ã¢â¬Åâœcurrent airline prices are clearly too low to allow airlines to become profitable againÃ¢â¬Åâœ.

Despite the worldwide recession the ITB World Travel Trends Report expects commercial aviation to grow dynamically over the next two decades.

The Chinese market is predicted to expand annually by around 8.4 percent, followed by the Asian-Pacific region (6.9 percent) and South America (estimated at 6.4 percent).

The European market is forecast to grow by 3.4 percent, lagging significantly behind the expected global average growth rate of 4.9 percent.

Dr. Martin Buck of ITB Berlin organisers, Messe Berlin, said, Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe currently unanswered question facing the worldÃ¢â¬â¢s airline industries is whether price-conscious consumers will continue to drive the downgrading trend we are seeing in bookings, or whether we will witness a return to the situation we had before the worldwide economic and financial crisis began.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœIt also remains to be seen whether companies will limit their business travel to a minimum and how video conferences and other new forms of communication technology will influence travel behaviour.Ã¢â¬Åâœ

According to Dr. Buck the recession has already had a positive effect: Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe over-capacity of the worldÃ¢â¬â¢s airline industries has been reduced and older planes which consume large amounts of kerosene have been taken out of service.

"In the short term a full recovery of demand is unlikely."

Describing the situation, Dr Buck added that Ã¢â¬Åâœflat is the new growthÃ¢â¬Åâœ.

From December 15, the ITB World Travel Trends Report 2009/2010 can be downloaded free of charge from www.itb-berlin.com/media centre/publications.

ITB Berlin 2010 will take place from March 10-14.