Only 3 airlines saw growth in this difficult year – Swiss International Airlines, Malev Hungarian Airlines and Turkish Airlines. The worst hit was Ukrainian airline Aerosvit, which saw a drop of 24.7 per cent in its passenger total.

Figures released by the association show that Air Malta filled 66.7 per cent of its available seats, carrying 1.2 million passengers by the end of September.

The association is calling on European policy-makers to convene a ‘stakeholder summit’ to address the challenges facing the sector during the longest and deepest business downturn in its history.

The latest traffic figures emerging from AEA show no sign of improvement. Even compared to a depressed baseline in late 2008, this year’s figures remain about 2 per cent below last year’s figures.

“The traffic decline pales into insignificance, however, compared to the price effects of the seriously depressed market; latest yield figures show that the average ticket price per kilometre of travel has fallen by more than 15 per cent,” the association said, warning of tens of thousands of job losses as the industry crumbles.

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