Why airlines may ultimately fail

Singapore

IN their latest monthly Financial Monitor Report of sample airlines, International Air Transport Association (Iata) analysts presented a not too distressing global picture of the industry.

This can be misleading. Airlines without large domestic markets and which are wholly dependent on long-haul international passengers are finding that their average yield declines, which are greater than the Iata sample data, have not yet bottomed out, and have gone way past the point of the diminishing returns of increased airline passenger numbers aligned to capacity growth.