ISTANBUL, Türkiye - Airlines will fly 4.35 billion passengers in 2023, close to the 2019 record as the industry bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic, an industry group said on Monday.
The sector will also be back in the green, with net profits forecast to reach $9.8 billion in 2023, or double previous estimates, boosted by the end of China's COVID-19 restrictions, according to the International Air Transport Association ."Airline financial performance in 2023 is beating expectations," IATA director general Willie Walsh said in a statement during the association's annual general meeting in Istanbul.
"Stronger profitability is supported by several positive developments. China lifted COVID-19 restrictions earlier in the year than anticipated," Walsh said.Inflation surged worldwide as Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sent energy costs soaring, but oil and natural gas prices have fallen since then."Economic uncertainties have not dampened the desire to travel, even as ticket prices absorbed elevated fuel costs," he added.
The pandemic devastated the airline industry, which lost $137 billion when countries imposed lockdowns and closed borders in 2020. The sector lost another $42 billion in 2021 and was still in the red in 2022 as China, a major market, continued to enforce COVID-19 restrictions that were finally lifted in December.