Profitability improved in the fourth quarter of 2017 and airline chief financial officers and heads of cargo are increasingly confident about the future, IATA reports.

In the association’s Airline Business Confidence Index January 2018 Survey, the International Air Transport Association says 75 per cent of respondents indicated an improvement in year-on-year profitability in the fourth quarter compared with the same period of 2016, and 56 per cent predicted further improvements in the coming 12 months.

When asked about freight demand, 63 per cent reported a year-on-year rise in demand over the past three months, the highest share since the second quarter of 2011, while the proportion reporting a decline, seven per cent, was the lowest score for more than seven years.

For the next 12 months, 63 per cent of respondents predict demand will improve, 30 per cent expect no change and seven per cent say there will be a decrease.

Yields have also been getting better; 41 per cent of respondents reported an increase over the past three months and the same amount said there had been no change, with 18 per cent saying there was a decrease.

Over the next 12 months, 32 per cent are expecting yields to increase, 48 per cent think there will be no change and 20 per cent say they will decrease.