P.M. BRIEFING : Air Travel Soars, but Not Profit

BRUSSELS — The Assn. of European Airlines today said its 21 member carriers posted a 10% rise in overall passenger traffic in August but called the growth “profitless.”

The rise kept pace with traffic growth over the last year, the AEA said, adding that the Persian Gulf crisis, higher fuel prices and other cost increases “have seriously eroded already thin (profit) margins.” The AEA said fuel costs had been rising before the gulf crisis began and had not been offset by the relative weakness of the dollar.