Giovanni Bisignani, head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said the air industry’s worst is over, but recovery will take a long time.
He said the aviation industry had forecast a worldwide drop in revenues of US$80 billion, from US$535 billion in 2008 to US$455 billion this year.
"A drop of this dimension will not be easy to address. It will take three or four years to return to the old levels," he said.
Bisignani said a similar crisis faced by the sector after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001 had been tempered by relatively positive market conditions.
"Now we have an economy that is having a difficult moment," he added.
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