HONG KONG, Apr 19 (AP) -- Airlines and airports should cut costs to counter huge losses due to high fuel prices and falling fares, an aviation industry official said.

"Our industry needs to change fast," Giovanni Bisignani, the International Air Transport Association's director general, told a travel industry conference in Macau on Monday.

Bisignani called on airlines to start "simplifying their businesses" and urged airports to become more cost conscious.

IATA predicts the airline industry lost US$5.5 billion (€4.22 billion) in 2005 as oil prices remained high and budget carriers put pressure on prices. The association says the industry lost a total of US$36 billion (€27.7 billion) between 2001 and 2004.

"More people than ever are flying ... but we have never lost as much money," Bisignani said.