IATA Has Worsened Its Forecast
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has worsened its forecast for the development of passenger air transport this year, despite a slight improvement in the summer months.
The second wave of the new coronavirus pandemic has brought with it new restrictions, so that no further recovery in air traffic can be expected.
As IATA announced on Tuesday, it expects a 66 percent drop in passenger air traffic in 2020. In the previous forecast, it expected a decline of 63 percent.
"The slight recovery that began in the summer months is practically over," said IATA chief economist Brian Pearce. In August, passenger air transport fell by 75.3 percent year on year. In July, the decline was 79.5 percent. August's development in passenger transport was driven mainly by domestic flights, in which the decline was about 50 percent. In the case of international passenger transport, the decrease reached 88 percent.
Demand for air freight fell by 12.6 percent year on year in August. This is also an improvement compared to the development in July, when the decline reached 14.4 percent.
"If governments do not come with further aid to support air transport and open borders, hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost in this sector," warned IATA chief Alexandre de Juniac.
IATA estimates that global air traffic will not reach pre-pandemic levels before the new coronavirus earlier than 2024.