Investments in information technology by airlines have dropped below 1999 levels, according to a new survey.

The latest annual Airline IT Trends Survey conducted by technology provider SITA and Airline Business magazine Ñ indicate that the current industry downturn has affected progress in the deployment of information technology.

The survey shows that, for the first time since the start of the survey in 1999, overall investment in IT and telecommunications dropped to 2.3 per cent of revenue, setting investment back to below 1999, well short of the three per cent that it had been climbing to previously.

The annual study also provides a set of benchmarks for comparisons between IT leaders and IT laggards, SITA said.

It said Middle East and Africa carriers are leading investment (2.88 per cent of revenue), followed by North America (2.7 per cent), Latin America (2.4 per cent), Asia Pacific (2.2 per cent) and European carriers (1.9 per cent).