Doha: Airlines are expected to report a combined $18 billion in net profits this year, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Tony Tyler, IATA director general and chief executive, said at the aviation watchdog’s annual general meeting in Doha on Monday that airlines will report $746 billion in revenues with net margins at 2.4 per cent.

The average return on investment in the airline industry in 2014 is 5.4 per cent, much higher than the 1.4 per cent in 2008 but far from the 7–8 per cent expected by investors, Tyler said.

In March, IATA, which represents 240 global carriers accounting for 84 per cent of global air traffic, revised its global forecast for the year down from $19.7 billion to $18.7 billion.

IATA has also revised its forecast for the Middle East this year to “$1.5-$1.6 billion”, down on the March $2.2 billion revision, IATA chief economist Brian Pearce told Gulf News. There has also be an adjustment in 2013 data where Middle East airlines actually turned over $1 billion in profit, not $1.6 billion as previously stated.

Pearce said the Middle East, along with North America, is expected to be the best performing region in terms of profit this year.

Much of revision to profit expectation is due to a dip in business confidence with many wary of China’s economic performance this year, Pearce said.

The annual meet, held in the Gulf for the first time, has been hosted under the shadow of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that disappeared on March 8 earlier this year.

“A large commercial airline going missing without a trace for so long is unprecedented in modern aviation. It must not happen again,” Tyler said.

IATA is currently working with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and other experts to develop “the best options” to improve global tracking capabilities.

Tyler said a draft paper of the recommendations will be submitted to ICAO in September.

Tim Clark, President of Emirates airline, which operates a large Boeing 777 fleet, the same type of aircraft of flight MH370, told reporters on the sidelines of the meet that Emirates will not be making any changes to its procedures. “We don’t know what happened on Malaysian 370, so how can we revise or change our procedures?,” he responded to question on procedural changes.

“I’m satisfied that the procedures that we have are adequate to do the job,” he added.

Tyler said that $8.55 billion is spent on aviation security each year, partly in a bid to combat terrorism threats.