The Association of European Airlines (AEA) reported that its member airlines saw a 20 million decrease in passengers in 2009 compared to 2008, with passenger traffic down 4.5% and the number of passengers boarded down 5.8%. Freight traffic fared even worse, decreasing 16.5%. All major regions saw decreases in traffic. While load factors improved in the latter half of the year, overall load factor still decreased slightly. The AEA Secretary General said the industry faced an "astonishing year" and its effects will be felt for years to come.

1. Association of
European Airlines
Adria Airways
Aegean Airlines Traffic Update
Aer Lingus
05 February 2010
AeroSvit
airBaltic
Air France
AEA AIRLINES – 20 MILLION FEWER PASSENGERS IN 2009
Air Malta ‘Harsh lessons’ of the downturn should guide policy, says AEA Secretary
General
Alitalia
Austrian The Association of European Airlines, which represents Europe’s most important
network carriers, has published its traffic and capacity figures for the last two months
bmi
of 2009.
British Airways
The outcome for the year was a decrease in passenger-kilometres of 4.5% with an
brussels airlines
even greater fall of 5.8% in the number of passengers boarded, from 346 million to
Cargolux just below 326m. This 20m drop easily surpasses the previously greatest recorded
annual traffic loss, of 14m in 2002, following the 9/11 outrage.
Croatia Airlines
Cyprus Airways Given that the year-on-year comparison was with a steadily worsening trend in the
Czech Airlines
2008 baseline, it is unsurprising that the rate of traffic loss decreased through the later
stages of the year, finishing with a December traffic volume no lower, but equally no
DHL higher, than in December 2008.
Finnair
All the main operating regions were amongst the poorer performers; cross-border
Iberia
traffic within Europe was 5.3% down, the North Atlantic minus 5.6% and the Far East
Icelandair minus 5.9%. Traffic to/from the Middle East and Africa managed to buck the trend
with a positive growth.
Jat Airways
KLM Effective capacity management through the latter part of the Summer helped to
mitigate the effect of the traffic downturn and load factors improved year-on-year from
LOT
July onwards, but insufficient to prevent a small decrease for the year as a whole,
Lufthansa down 0.3 points to 76.0%, as overall, passenger capacity decreased by 4.2%.
Luxair
If the passenger market was very weak, the airfreight market fared much worse, with a
Malev decrease of 16.5%. In the largest market for AEA airlines, to/from the Far East, the
shortfall was 22.8%.
Montenegro Airlines
Olympic Air Said AEA Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus: “the stark reality of the figures
tells us what we know already – our sector has just come through an astonishing year.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines
The crisis has not receded – its repercussions will be felt well into the future, and in
SWISS some respects the face of the industry will be changed fundamentally”.
TAP Portugal
“We have seen, quite clearly, that the industry’s suppliers and service providers have
TAROM been able to insulate themselves from the worst of the downturn by their ability to
TNT Airways recover costs, or sustain profits, through their pricing policies. This lesson must be
Turkish Airlines
Association of European Airlines - Avenue Louise 350 - 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Ukraine International Airlines
Tel: +32 (0)2 639 89 89 - Fax: +32 (0)2 639 89 99
aea.secretariat@aea.be - www.aea.be
Virgin Atlantic Airways

2. Association of
European Airlines
Adria Airways
Aegean Airlines taken on board by our regulators. We have seen, quite clearly, that airlines and their
Aer Lingus passengers cannot sustainably be treated as a cash cow by national treasuries, to be
taxed and taxed again. This lesson, too, must be taken on board by our regulators”.
AeroSvit
airBaltic “We have adapted, in the face of the downturn. There has been an increase in the
tempo of the consolidation process. The importance of economies of scale, of
Air France
coherent networks and optimised fleet structures, has been re-emphasised. For niche
Air Malta markets, the key is a consistency of service, tailored to the specificities of the market.
We understand these priorities; it is important for our regulators to understand them
Alitalia
too”.
Austrian
bmi
British Airways For further information, please contact:
David Henderson
brussels airlines
Manager Information
Cargolux Phone : +32(0) 2 639 89 72
Email: david.henderson@aea.be
Croatia Airlines
www.aea.be
Cyprus Airways
Czech Airlines
Note to the Editor: The Association of European Airlines (AEA) brings together 36
DHL European established scheduled network carriers. These collectively carry 374 million
Finnair passengers and 7 million tonnes of cargo each year, operating 2,689 aircraft serving
662 destinations in 162 countries with 11,934 flights a day. They provide around
Iberia
394,200 jobs directly, and generate a total turnover of €80 billion
Icelandair
Jat Airways
KLM
LOT
Lufthansa
Luxair
Malev
Montenegro Airlines
Olympic Air
SAS Scandinavian Airlines
SWISS
TAP Portugal
TAROM
TNT Airways
Turkish Airlines
Ukraine International Airlines
-2-
Virgin Atlantic Airways