VE Bulletin February 2019: Storm Clouds Ahead? A Roundup of the Airline Market in 2018 and Outlook for 2019

The February issue of PATA’s VE Bulletin provides an overview of the airline market in 2018 and forecasts for 2019.

Guest authored by Cirium, this report identifies sources for challenges faced by airlines throughout 2018, including fear of global trade wars, Brexit, and rising fuel costs.

According to International Air Transport Association (IATA) Chief Economist Brian Pearce quoted in the report, “This year has been tougher than we thought it would be. There was quite a squeeze on airline margins in the second and third quarters because of the sharp rise in fuel costs.”

However, this was still a profitable year for airlines, particularly those from larger airline groups. While there have been some cases of airlines that failed, the number of commercial airlines remained nearly the same from December 2018 and December 2017 at 838 and 836, respectively.