By Sharmilpal Kaur on December 17, 2009 7:41 AM

The global prognosis for the airline industry is grim. The International Air Transport Association has forecast a $5.6 billion global net loss for 2010, coming right after a forecasted $11 billion loss in 2009.

Describing 2009 as the final "Annus Horribilis," in a "Decennis Horribilis," IATA's Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani put total losses over the first decade of this century at $49.1 billion.

But is the outlook truly that bleak for the airline industry? Perhaps not. And I would argue definitely not in Asia. Looking around an airport in China, you would even be forgiven for thinking that Bisagnani was speaking about another planet. That is because the flights between cities in China are mostly full and so are the airports; one can hardly get a seat in the large China Airlines airline lounge at Beijing Airport because the hundreds of seats have all been taken up.

And wandering around the duty-free shops at a Chinese airport is another source of amazement. Prices of supposedly duty free goods such as cosmetics and bags cost thrice that of cosmopolitan hubs such as Singapore and Dubai. Yet, you see locals ringing up the cashiers. The mighty Chinese dollar is not to be sniffed at. The Chinese have the resources to fly, and many fly via business class.

If you look further afield, Indian alrlines also are bustling. There, structural challenges in the state controlled pricing of jet fuel and high taxes are a constant drain on the the industry, but with the newly-elected Indian government determined to tackle energy pricing, one can almost anticipate a return to profitability in the years to come.

So the long and short of it is this: yes, I believe the airline industry may be in dire straits. But perhaps the night is not as dark as it has been made out to be.