JEANNIOT: CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM IN AIR FREIGHT VOLUMES

JEANNIOT: CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM IN AIR FREIGHT VOLUMES    Air freight volumes are projected to increase 6.7 percent a year through 2004, marking the most optimistic forecast in three years, said Pierre J. Jeanniot, director general of the International Air Transport Association.
   “That renewed optimism is fueled in large part by a new positive outlook for Asia,” Jeanniot said Wednesday in Singapore.
   Through the first seven months of 2000, international air freight volumes have climbed 11.8 percent. In the Far East, freight volumes have grown 16 percent.
   However, Jeanniot cautioned that increased volumes won't necessarily translate into improved profitability. Carriers are facing rising fuel prices, which account for 18 percent of airlines operating costs — up from 12 percent two years ago.
   That, “coupled with yield erosion, means that airlines are unlikely to make much more than $2 billion net profit on their international scheduled services in 2000, on revenues of $156 billion,” he said.
   The remedied Asian economic crisis should lead to “more robust economies and, for the most part, robust carriers in this region,” he said.