Le Bourget, June 15: Global airline traffic is likely to recover this year from the unprecedented downturn that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the head of Boeing Co's commercial jet arm said on Saturday. The attacks slashed demand for air travel and worsened the plight of airlines already weakened by faltering economies around the globe. This year, a US-led invasion of Iraq and the pneumonia-like SARS illness have further depressed the sector.
Now the situation appears to be improving, said Alan Mulally, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Speaking to reporters at a briefing, Mulally said global air traffic should recover to the level of 2000 by the end of 2003, setting the stage for a recovery in aircraft deliveries in 2005.

"Boeing's best assessment right now is that traffic comes back in 2003, the airlines repair their balance sheets and keep working their productivity and get back on track in 2004," Mulally said.
"And we see a recovery, or maybe possible growth in deliveries of new airplanes in 2005."
An upturn would come as a welcome relief not only to airlines and plane manufacturers Boeing and Airbus but also to the thousands of companies supplying goods to the global travel industry.
Bureau Report