Commercial airlines face $2.8 billion loss in 2010: IATA

SANTIAGO: Commercial airlines worldwide should lose about 2.8 billion dollars in 2010, but start enjoying a turnaround next year with the outlook rosier in Latin America and Asia, the IATA reported Wednesday.

The International Air Transport Association said airlines were the hardest hit in the United States and in Europe, where they had to boost efficiency as they struggle amid the global economic lull.

"For the United States, the loss is 1.8 billion dollars; it is 2.2 billion dollars for Europe and 400 (million dollars) for the Middle East," IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani said at the International Air and Space Fair under way in Chile's capital.