The air transport industry intends to cut costs by $3 billion over the next three years - otherwise it will not survive. This conclusion was reached by participants of the world aviation summit in Singapore, which brought together more than 700 top managers of airlines under the auspices of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), reports Газета.Ru.
According to IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani, the aviation industry in the reporting year entered the black for the first time in the 21st century, increasing traffic by 6.5% compared to 2001 and overcoming the consequences of the invasion of the "four horsemen of the apocalypse". Bisignani named severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as the first of them, which nearly destroyed air travel to Asia. Bisignani considered the war in Iraq to be the second "horseman". The third, Bisignani assured, was the terrorist threat looming over civilization. And the fourth "horseman" is the downturn in the global economy. According to IATA, the total losses from these four "horsemen" amounted to $30 billion over the past three years, including such a landmark (with a minus sign) event for the industry as the air attack on the Twin Towers in New York. Nevertheless, based on the results of 2004, a profit of $3 billion is expected for the industry as a whole.
"But now the fifth horseman of the apocalypse is approaching us," thundered Giovanni Bisignani, "the price of oil. And this horseman will take at least $1 billion a month from us. And this the industry will no longer survive - if it remains in its current state and does not cut costs." As the main tool to combat the fifth "horseman", Giovanni Bisignani proposed a partial repeal of the Chicago Convention, which has been regulating world air traffic for 60 years. This convention, in particular, requires the conclusion of bilateral interstate agreements. "It is outdated," stated Bisignani. "We should not watch over all sorts of details and formalities; we should have a common view on the development of the industry and a clear policy."
Some features of this clear policy are already known. Airlines are being asked to abandon tickets in their current form. After booking and paying, each passenger can print out a receipt for memory at home or in the office. In addition, there will be no sticky luggage tags - they will be replaced by advanced technology using radio beacons and reading devices. All this should not only significantly reduce check-in time, but also lower passenger service costs - by at least $3 billion in total.
Experts, however, believe that IATA is putting a good face on a bad game. Bloomberg agency quotes Singaporean analyst Mark Tan, who is confident that all these efforts of major airlines will not help them cope with competition from low-cost carriers like RyanAir.
And representatives of small airlines are generally in despondency. For example, the general director of Philippine Airlines, Avelino Sapanta, noted that if the Chicago Convention is simultaneously abolished and low-cost carriers continue their vigorous development, airlines like the Philippine one will simply come to an end.