maximol here are the quarter growth figures from the economist
US 0.2%
Euro area 0.2%
Japan -2%
does not look too good, ok if you want to believe we are in an economic boom, thats your choice.
Otherwise i agree with the bbc, Only some players will survive on the european airline front. never say never : remember PanAm or TWA ? Maybe Ryanair will some day buy BA for a symbolic penny for example (i think the British pride would not survive
)
The big factor of uncertainty is politics : how far are national governments willing to go to save a national company.
there are still too many inefficiencies in the airline sector anyway, there is no place for so much companies in an unified European market. The phenomenon is similar to the consolidation in the US.