For a number of years, the airline industry has grown at a disproportionately faster rate relative to global GDP growth. This is primarily due to the increasing globalisation of markets, whereby the mobility of people and goods is gaining greater importance.
At the same time, the air transport industry is characterised by high cyclicality, largely attributable to the overall dependence of the airline business on general economic developments. Moreover, as demand for air travel is very sensitive to external shocks, in our view the industry should be characterised as crisis-prone.