According to a recent statement from Association of European Airlines (AEA) issued on Friday, European carriers faced another drop in traffic for September. The company estimated a 3% drop for last month, a figure which is worse than that of August.

In the statement issued, AEA told reuters:

“August produced another negative figure in the relentless series of traffic decreases which stretches back to November 2008. The latest result was minus 1.8 percent in passenger kilometres and minus 3.5 percent in passenger boardings. The preliminary outlook for September is for a figure worse than in August, at about minus 3 percent (in passenger-kilometres).”

The forecast is that European airlines face a “paradigm shift with far-reaching and irrevocable consequences.” The combined loss for the entire 2009 is set to be as much as US$4.3 billion. It is also said that 34,000 European airline jobs will be lost by the end of 2009.

Among the measure recommended by the association to reduce charges that might reflect in airline tickets is increasing access to credit to fund fleet renewal programs. Will we have to pay more for flying with our favorite airline? If the trend continue, we just might have to.