IATA forecasts industry profit of USD5bn

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The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 243 airlines around the world, has said that airlines are expected to make a total profit of USD5bn in 2007.

While acknowledging that this is a positive result, IATA's director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said that the airline industry is worth USD470bn and therefore a profit of USD5bn is "peanuts".

He added: "The industry is moving in the right direction, but with USD200bn of debt, the financial hole is deep".

IATA also outlined six priorities for the industry. These are: safety - making air travel even safer in all regions; taking a global approach to security; simplifying the business, including wider use of RFID and self-service; reducing infrastructure costs; liberalisation; and the environment.

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