The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global airlines industry association, is to downgrade global airline profitability by US$1 billion to $18.7 billion for 2014, which is still up from 2013's profit of $12.9 billion.
The profit lowering is due to the Ukraine crisis resulting in an oil price spike forecast, expected to add $3 billion in unexpected costs, offset by a $2 billion upward revision in cargo revenue.
"The situation in Ukraine is causing instability that is pushing up the price of oil and that was the main negative driver of today's downwards revision," said IATA chief Tony Tyler, former CEO of Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways.
Also, Mr Tyler spoke of boycotting by some airlines of flights to Venezuela due to the country's freezing of $3.7 billion of cash owed to foreign airlines.
"It is unacceptable that Venezuela is not playing by the rules to which it is treaty-bound," he added of a commercial decision that each airline makes.
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