Airlines face record losses
The world's airlines face revenue losses and extra costs of $10 billion (SFr16.6 billion) this week because of the terror attacks in the United States, according to the Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA).
William Gaillard, spokesman for the association, which has 266 member carriers, said on Thursday that airlines were facing “record losses” this year in the wake of Tuesday’s attacks.
About 4,000 of the world’s 12,000 commercial airliners were grounded after the US suspended all flights, following Tuesday’s attacks. The US market is work about $1 billion per day, according to IATA.
“This is a ballpark figure, but we could be talking about immediate losses of $10 billion this week alone. There could be a ripple effect too,” explained Gaillard.
“A week ago we were talking about losses of about $2.8 billion on international scheduled traffic this year. There is no doubt its going to be more,” he added.
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