Air travel is predicted to recover during 2002 according to a new report.

Analysts say that, as with the Gulf War in 1991, the impact of the September 11 terror attacks and the global economic slowdown is likely to be short-term.

Since the US atrocities, there has been a drastic fall in the number of people flying, especially on trans-Atlantic routes.

As a result, airlines have axed more than 120,000 jobs and scores of services, and some carriers have gone bust.

But a study by property consultants King Sturge says: ''Despite the terrorist events of September 2001, air travel will continue to grow in the medium to long-term. In 1991, the year of the Gulf War, demand for air transport dropped sharply but showed a fast recovery.''

Similarly, the 1983 Falklands conflict and the American bombings of Libya in 1986 had a short-term impact.

The globalisation of business and expansion in financial and professional services will be key factors in driving growth along with low-cost airlines, which could expand by up to 15 per cent in five years.

Air travel is forecast to increase by 4.3 per cent a year to 2020, by which time there will be more than 400 million passengers in the UK.

Manchester Airport is well placed to benefit and to provide spin-off success to businesses in the region, says the survey, despite last month's announcement by chief executive Geoff Muirhead that passenger numbers are set to fall by up to two million a year in 2002.

King Sturge says the airport is the main economic driver in south Manchester.

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