Less than three weeks before the end of 2010, the International Air Transport Association has predicted the air travel industry will make $15.1 billion this year.
At the beginning of the year IATA predicted the global aviation industry would make a loss in 2010, but the industry body has since drastically changed its forecasting.
The latest figure represents a rise of more than $6 billion on its previous forecast - in September, IATA said the industry would make $8.9 billion in profit this year.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s CEO, said: “Our profit projections increased for both 2010 and 2011 based on an exceptionally strong third quarter performance.
Despite the strong figures, IATA said that profit margins remain weak, and predicted that next year the recovery will faulter.
“Despite higher profit projections, we still see the recovery pausing next year after a strong post-recession rebound,” he said.
“Margins remain pathetic. With a 2.7% net margin in 2010 shrinking to 1.5% in 2011, we are nowhere near covering our cost of capital. The industry is fragile and balancing on a knife edge.”