AEA (Association of European Airlines) : 2008 statistics

[LX-LGX]

Fewer Passengers but more passenger-km in 2008,
Industry "not yet at the bottom of the cycle".

Members of the Association of European Airlines, which represents Europe’s major network airlines, boarded almost 366 million passengers in 2008, 5.4 million fewer than in 2007. However, as AEA points out, the decrease was triggered by a restructuring in some Domestic markets. Using the standard industry measure of passenger-kilometres, traffic registered a small increase, of 1.2%.

“We have seen figures as weak as these on only three occasions in the last 25 years”, said AEA Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus: “in 1986, when Chernobyl and the US bombing of Libya caused major disruptions in travel patterns, in 1991 when the first Gulf War had a similar effect, and in 2001-2002 following the 9/11 attacks. This time the upheavals are economic, and likely to be more powerful and longer-lasting than the external shocks of the past”.

The AEA December figures gave an indication of just how much the market has weakened. Passenger traffic was 3.5% down on December 2007, with every route area showing a decrease except Europe-Middle East which posted a plus 6.3%. Cargo traffic showed a catastrophic decline of 21.4%, by far the steepest on record.

“We have no reason to suppose that we are at, or even approaching, the bottom of the cycle”, said Mr Schulte-Strathaus. He pointed to a remarkable development in the capacity figures: “Nineteen of our member airlines reduced seat capacity in December, eight of them by more than 10% – yet, overall, the traffic decline was still greater than the capacity cutbacks”.

While conditions in the industry were severe, said Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, the airlines were not looking for handouts. “We are not jumping on the bail-out bandwagon”, he said. “We are working closely with our regulators to identify ways in which pressures on the industry can be relieved. We cannot afford to take on any further cost burdens arising from ill-considered legislation, and we desperately need the benefits of the Single European Sky programme to begin to flow”.

Source:
AEA press release 17 Febr 2009
http://files.aea.be/News/PR/Pr09-003.pdf

The above link includes excellent details:
- statistics December 2008 for all AEA member airlines
- statistics January 2008 -> December 2008 for all AEA member airlines
- comparison 2007 <-> 2008 for all AEA member airlines