Airline Covid-19 losses set to hit $314bn - IATA
Estimated airline losses from the coronavirus pandemic were now expected to hit $314bn as flight restrictions continued and the impact on Africa and Latin America became more severe, the industry's representative body said on Tuesday.
The new figure from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) was an increase on March's estimate of $252bn and represented a 55% drop in 2020 passenger revenue year on year.
IATA said the increase revealed “a significant deepening of the crisis” and reflected severe domestic and international restrictions lasting three months or more as countries shut airspace and airlines grounded a majority of their fleets.
Traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometres was forecast to be 48% down this year, compared with a previous forecast of 38%.
IATA chief Alexandre de Juniac said news that some European nations were starting to beginning to re-open their economies was encouraging but this did not include a re-start for aviation.
“And, individual country decisions cannot enable the restoration of international air services when other markets remain closed,” he said.
“Furthermore, China and South Korea--countries which have been successful in controlling the disease within their own borders-- are now doubling down on international travel restrictions because they don’t want to risk importing a second outbreak.”
“Governments re-opening their economies must have confidence that the disease is also under control in the countries they do business with. Otherwise they are not going to make travel easy or convenient.”