The world’s five biggest airlines now hail from Asia and Latin America,
The world’s five biggest airlines now hail from Asia and Latin America, highlighting the industry’s shift away from the U.S. and Europe to higher-growth countries, the International Air Transport Association said Tuesday.
Air China is twice the size of either Delta in the U.S. or Germany’s Lufthansa. But despite emerging markets’ strength and a broad earnings rebound this year, weak economic conditions in Europe and low margins are acting as a drag on profits, the group warned.
“The world is changing in aviation, and it’s changing very, very quickly,” IATA Chief Executive Giovanni Bisignani told a news conference in Geneva. “Rapidly developing markets are shifting the industry’s center of gravity to the East.”
Air China has a market capitalization of $20 billion, followed by Singapore Airlines with $14 billion and Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific with $12 billion.
China Southern has a market cap of $11 billion, as does LATAM, the Latin American airline recently created from the merger of Chile’s LAN and TAM of Brazil. U.S. carrier Delta and Germany’s Lufthansa follow with market capitalizations of $10 billion each.
IATA said strong growth in developing countries and a rebound in North America are largely responsible for the industry’s recovery this year.
Airlines will see net profits of $15.1 billion in 2010, IATA said. This marks a massive turnaround from the $10 billion industry loss in 2009 and $16 billion loss in 2008.
Asian carriers will contribute $7.7 billion to the global total, while North American airlines will earn $5.1 billion. Europe, with estimated net profits of $400 million, lags behind the Middle East ($700 million) and Latin America ($1.2 billion). African carriers will earn $100 million this year, IATA said.