The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced strengthened profitability projections for airlines this year, which will then largely stabilise in 2024.

However, net profitability at the global level is expected to be well below the cost of capital in both years, whilst very significant regional variations in financial performance remain.

In a forecast published last week, IATA projected that airline industry net profits are expected to reach $25.7b in 2024 (a net profit margin of 2.7 per cent) – a slight improvement over 2023 which is expected to show a $23.3b net profit (2.6 per cent net profit margin).