AIRLINES are wonderful generators of profit-for everyone except themselves. Even in good times their margins are as thin as a boarding pass, and in recent years they have more often lost money (see chart). Averaged over the past four decades, the net profit margin of the world's airlines, taken together, has been a measly 0.1%. By contrast, other bits of the travel business that depend on the airlines-such as aircraft-makers, travel agents, airports, caterers and maintenance firms-have done very nicely.
航空公司的生意带来大量的利润,但自己却所赚无几。即使在经济繁荣的时期,他们的利润空间也少得可怜。近几年来,航空公司常常亏本(见图表)。过去的四十年中,把全球航空公司算在一起,平均的总净利润率只有极其微薄的0.1%。相比之下,其他依赖航空公司生存的旅游业务却表现突出,如飞机制造商,旅行社,机场,餐饮业和负责维修的公司等。
Some of the tastiest margins in the travel business are enjoyed by the "global distribution systems" (GDSs), a fancy name for computerised-reservations services. These were originally created by several of the largest airlines to distribute their flights through travel agencies but have since become independent firms. Most flights booked through a physical or online travel agent go through a GDS, which charges the airline a fee of about $12 per round trip, passing a few dollars of that to the travel agent. According to Take Travel Forward, an airlines' lobby group, the world's carriers pay $7 billion in GDS fees a year-more than double their expected net profits this year of $3 billion.
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