Airlines burdened by high costs

'Iinefficiency of European airspace' was used as an example of the burden. Picture: Getty

European airlines are being “burdened by high regulatory and infrastructure costs”, a world air transport group claimed yesterday.

Lowering its global industry profit forecast, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) pointed to “the inefficiency of European airspace” as an example of the burden.

The European region is expected to generate a net airline profit of $2.8 billion (£1.64bn) this year, which represents just $3.23 (£1.93) per passenger.

Overall, global spending on air transport is expected to reach $746bn in 2014, with the number of passengers likely to increase 5.9 per cent to 3.3 billion, Iata noted.

It added that airfares are expected to fall 3.5 per cent in real terms, taking inflation into account.

The Geneva-based organisation now expects airlines to make a collective profit of $18bn in 2014, down from $18.7bn in its previous forecast in March, but the economic prospects are expected to improve as the year progresses.