Europe airlines count the cost of the slump

European airlines face losses of $600m (£378m) this year, the International Air Transport Association warned yesterday. This was because "many of the Continent's economies are in deep recession, air travel is highly taxed and [of] the additional costs of the EU's emissions trading scheme", it said.

Iata cut forecasts for global airlines' profits by $500m to $3bn this year due to the steep rise in oil prices.

"On the good news side, it appears that a worsening of Europe's sovereign debt crisis has been avoided for now," Iata added.