IATA: 2009 to be one of toughest years for international aviation

Figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show that international passenger traffic in December 2008 dropped by 4.6 percent compared to the same month in 2007.

Asia-Pacific carriers saw the sharpest decline in December international traffic at 9.7 percent. They also registered the sharpest reduction in capacity, but at 5.6 percentr, IATA said this is lagging behind the drop in demand. Load factors sank to 72.6 percent.

Carriers in the Middle East showed an almost four-percent increase in demand in December, far below the 10-percent capacity increase.

“2009 is shaping up to be one of the toughest years ever for international aviation,” said IATA director general and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani.

Airlines registered a US$5-billion loss in 2008. For 2009, IATA is forecasting a further loss of US$2.5 billion based on a fuel price of US$60 per barrel, a decline of three percent in passenger volumes, a drop of five percent in cargo traffic and yield deterioration of three percent. In the face of this economic crisis, IATA is calling for major structural changes to the industry.


Source : TravelWeekly
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Asia-Pacific air travel fell 1.8 per cent in 2008

Passenger and freight traffic in the Asia-Pacific region sank in 2008 as airlines were battered by high oil prices and slumping demand, with no respite seen this year amid a global downturn, an industry group said Friday.

The Kuala Lumpur-based Association of Asia Pacific Airlines said airlines were hurt by skyrocketing oil prices last year followed by rapidly weakening demand as the effects of the U.S. financial crisis ricocheted around the world.

Its 17 member airlines flew 141.5 million passengers, down 1.8 per cent from 144 million in 2007. Capacity grew marginally by 1.7 per cent but average passenger load factor - a measure of the number of seats filled - fell to 75 per cent from 77 per cent.

Air cargo traffic suffered a deeper decline of 6.1 per cent. The average cargo load factor was down one percentage point to 65.6 per cent even though carriers had reduced capacity, it said in a statement.

As a group, the AAPA represents roughly one-fifth of global passenger traffic and one-third of global cargo traffic.

Andrew Herdman, the association's director-general, said passenger traffic in the region held up well for the first nine months of the year, before declining 7 per cent in the October-December period.

The situation in the air cargo sector was even more dire as demand collapsed in the second half of the year, he said. In December alone, volumes were down by 24 per cent from a year earlier.

"With no sign of any respite amidst the global economic downturn, Asia Pacific airlines are braced for another extremely difficult year ahead," Herdman said.

The association did not give any growth forecast for this year.

The AAPA represents Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, China Airlines, Dragonair, EVA Air, Garuda Indonesia, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Qantas Airways, Royal Brunei Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International and Vietnam Airlines.

Source : AP
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Tourists to Thailand may hit 4-year low in 2009

Thailand may see its lowest number of tourist arrivals in four years in 2009 after the blockade of Bangkok's airports late last year that stranded thousands of holidaymakers, the Bank of Thailand said in a report. 

The week-long siege of Suvarnabhumi airport from Nov. 25 by anti-government protesters caused massive damage to the important tourist and trade sectors. Don Muang airport, a big domestic hub, was also closed by protesters. 

The central bank said foreign arrivals probably fell 3 percent to 14 million in 2008 and could drop nearly 9 percent to 12.8 million this year. 

That would be the lowest since 2005, when visitors dropped slightly from the previous year to 11.5 million after the December 2004 tsunami, which killed more than 5,300 people in Thailand. 

The blockade of Suvarnabhumi, which handles more than 100,000 travellers a day, could not have come at a worse time for Thai tourism, since November is the start of the peak season. 

Illustrating the immediate impact on tourism, the report said that arrivals in the first 11 months of 2008 were 3.7 percent higher than in the same period the previous year at 13.4 million. 

Without the airport blockade, arrivals could have totalled 14.6 million in 2008 as a whole and 15.6 million in 2009, the report estimated. 

Revenue from tourism -- which employs 1.8 million people out of a population of about 65 million -- could fall 14 percent to 484 billion baht this year ($14 billion) after a projected 2 percent drop to 564 billion baht in 2008, the report said. 

In total, the airport closures could eventually cost the economy 290 billion baht, or 3 percent of 2009 GDP, with the tourist sector the hardest hit, it said. 

Of those projected losses, 120 billion baht was in the service sector, 90 billion baht in the transport sector and 60 billion baht in industry and other sectors. 

Thai Airways, the national carrier, said this week it wanted to delay the delivery of six A330 aircraft and had agreed with Airbus to defer payments for three months because of the downturn in its business due to the global economic slowdown and the airport closures.. 

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has warned that the country could slide into recession and says his government plans aggressive measures to help the export-led economy, which the central bank expects to grow just 0.5-2.5 percent this year. 

Exports fell nearly 18 percent in November, the first monthly drop since 2002, due to the airport blockade and falling demand in the face of the global economic crisis. 

Source : LSEUK
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Holiday season in crisis as Thai tourism plummets

The palm-fringed island of Samui normally fills up for the holidays, but what stands out these days is its emptiness.

The sprawling Tongsai Bay resort, where guests are shuttled around in golf carts, has reduced hours for staff and even installed lower-wattage light bulbs to reduce electricity bills to cut costs amid the slowdown, said assistant manager Chonlatee Nakamadee.

"We can't believe how quiet it is here," said Karen Jack, a 37-year-old secretary from London. "There's been a couple of nights when we've been the only people in the restaurant."

The hangover from political unrest including an eight-day blockade of Bangkok's airport is not going away: Cancelations are pouring in from around the world — just as the high season is starting and the economy is slowing amid the global financial meltdown.

Tourism authorities predict business will be worse next year than after the tsunami in December 2004. Airlines and luxury hotels have slashed rates, some offering two nights for the price of one. High-level staff at one Bangkok hotel have taken 25 percent to 30 percent salary cuts.

The slowdown could push Thailand's economy into recession. The government forecast a contraction of up to 1 percent in the first quarter of 2009 and zero growth in the second quarter. Tourism brought in about $16 billion in revenue last year, about 6.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Bangkok, the capital city, is especially hard hit.

The loudest sound in the elegant lobby of The Peninsula is a toy train chugging through a gingerbread village near a 28-foot (8.5-meter) Christmas tree. The hotel has temporarily closed its bar and two of its six restaurants.

"The decorations are beautiful. It's just a pity there aren't more people to see it," said Charles Morris, general manager of the 370-room hotel, where the occupancy rate sank below 10 percent earlier this month.

The lebua hotel, where occupancy is 16 percent compared to 80 percent this time last year, has stopped all advertising until June. "All expatriate staff working here have taken 25 to 30 percent salary cuts — all of us," said Deepak Ohri, chief executive of the luxury hotel.

Thai hotels typically average 85 percent occupancy during the holidays, but many in Bangkok are less than 20 percent full, said Juthaporn Rerngronasa, a deputy governor at the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Her agency has devised a two-part strategy to revive Thailand's image as a laid-back paradise.

First: a big apology. The tourism authority is compiling a list of e-mail addresses of stranded passengers, collected from airlines and hotels. It plans to send a message "to express our regrets," Juthaporn said.

Second: big discounts. The authority has asked hotels and airlines to reduce high season rates and fares. Its "Amazing Thailand" campaign is being redubbed "Amazing Thailand, Amazing Value."

Southeast Asia's top budget carrier AirAsia is collaborating with an offer of 100,000 free tickets to Thailand under a regional marketing campaign — "Get Your Baht to Thailand."

Thai Airways and Bangkok Airways, which were crippled by the airport closures, are offering domestic roundtrip fares in the $100 range to the country's most popular beaches — Phuket, Krabi and Samui — and the northern city of Chiang Mai, famed for its elephant treks and Buddhist meditation retreats.

The tourism authority estimates the number of tourists will decline over the next six months by 2.5 million, costing the industry 100 billion baht ($3 billion).

That's in addition to 1.9 billion baht ($54 million) spent by the government to lodge and feed stranded tourists during the airport shutdown — and the millions lost by airlines and exporters.

The biggest falloff is among Asians, who accounted for more than half of the 14.8 million visitors to Thailand last year. Some 90 percent of Japanese and Chinese travelers have canceled upcoming trips, said Apichart Sankary, president of the 1,300-member Association of Thai Travel Agents.

Many hotels are trying to lure domestic travelers to fill some of the gap by halving room rates.

"While overseas tourists aren't coming, our strategy is to have more promotions for Thai people and residents," said Juthaporn of the tourism authority.

Andrew Herdman, director of the Malaysia-based Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, remains optimistic for the long-term, noting Thailand has bounced back from the tsunami and other earlier crises.

"We've seen dips in the past and Thailand has always come back very strongly, because there is an underlying reservoir of trust and good feeling about Thailand," he said.

But as the sun set over the island of Samui recently, happy hour faded to dinner time without a single customer at the Lunar beach bar. Even moving happy hour up to 2 p.m. hasn't brought in business, said the bar's owner, Pannipa Sritawan.

"It's supposed to be the high season," she sighed.

Source : AP
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Wyndham Set to Slash 4,000 Jobs

Wyndham Worldwide Corp., a US hotel and resort chain, said late Monday it plans to slash about 4,000 jobs in a restructuring aimed at cutting its dependence on the asset-backed securities market. "With the credit markets showing no signs of improvement, we are effectively eliminating our need to access the securitization markets to support an otherwise well-performing vacation ownership business," Stephen Holmes, Wyndham Worldwide chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. The company said the jobs, representing one-eighth of its workforce, would be eliminated in the first quarter of 2009, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The job eliminations will come as the company shrinks its timeshare vacation business, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, which has a network of some 145 vacation ownership resorts throughout North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. "These proactive steps will ensure maximum flexibility across all our businesses irrespective of conditions within the asset-backed securities market," Holmes said. Wyndham Worldwide, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, employs more than 32,000 employees globally.

Source : TravelMole
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]