Leasing company CIT Aerospace does not anticipate market fall-out from the European sovereign debt crisis and global economic uncertainty will have a major impact on long-term aviation traffic and demand.

Jeffrey Knittel, president of CIT Aerospace, said in an airline industry update released today: "So far, the European sovereign debt crisis does not appear to be significantly affecting overall passenger traffic in Europe, although we've heard of some weakness in internal traffic of the most affected countries. We expect this to remain the same in 2012."

Knittel warned events in North Africa and global economic conditions are exerting a level of uncertainty, but these events will not have a "major effect on core economic growth and resulting air traffic and demand over the long-term."

He said fuel prices have moderated, but expected these costs to continue to rise over the long-term.

The industry will continue to be influenced by market-driven events, Knittel noted, but said the aviation market would "manage through these inflection points as it has in the past."

Source: Commercial Aviation Online