MANILA - The global airline industry is expected to lose $11 billion this year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced Wednesday.

The latest figure is higher than the industry group's $9-billion loss estimate last June. IATA said this would be driven mainly by lower passenger and cargo traffic this year, which the group expects to drop by 4% and 14%, respectively.

"Industry revenues for the year are expected to fall by $80 billion or 15% to $455 billion compared with 2008 levels," IATA said in a statement.

According to IATA Director General Giovanni Bisigniani, revenues are not likely to return to 2008 levels until 2012 at the earliest. For next year, IATA is looking at a $3.8-billion net loss for the global airline industry.

"This is not a short-term shock. $80 billion will disappear from the industry's top line. That 15% of lost revenue will take years to recover. Conserving cash, careful capacity management and cutting costs are the keys to survival. The global economic storm may be abating, but airlines have not yet found safe harbor. The crisis continues," he said.

IATA said Asia Pacific carriers are seen to be hardest hit this year with a $3.6-billion loss, slightly higher than the group's initial $3.3-billion estimate. It said, however, that the region's carriers would be the first to benefit as Asia begins to recover from the economic crisis.

"Worst hit by the recession and fuel hedging losses at the end of 2008, the region's carriers are the first to benefit from reviving Asian economic growth and the modest restocking of inventories in the West," IATA said.

In June, IATA revised its loss estimate for 2008 to $16.8 billion from $10.4 billion, citing restatements and clarification of the accounting treatment of large revaluations to goodwill and fuel hedges.

"The bottom line of this crisis, with combined 2008 to 2009 losses at $27.8 billion, is larger than the impact of 9/11," Bisigniani said.

On September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda terrorists intentionally crashed 2 planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Earlier, Bisigniani said global airline revenues dropped by 7% in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, adding that it took 3 years for the industry to recover despite a strong global economy.

From 2001 to 2002, IATA said the airline industry reported $24.3 billion in losses.