Airlines
IATA Warns Passenger Revenues 'Have Fallen Off a Cliff'
The international airline trade body calls on governments to urgently help bridge the industry’s liquidity problems.
IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac (Photo: IATA)
IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac (Photo: IATA)

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Tuesday warned that Covid-19 will hit airlines much harder than previous pandemics and recovery might not come six months after the crisis, as in the cases of SARS, the Avian Flu, and the MERS Flu. The airline trade body now expects that the global spread of the novel coronavirus and the severity of travel restrictions—markets with severe restrictions (including quarantine for arriving passengers, partial travel ban, and border closure) now cover 98 percent of global passenger revenues—could reduce this year’s passenger revenues by 44 percent, or $252 billion compared with 2019. On March 5, IATA expected passenger revenues worldwide would fall 19 percent, or $113 billion below 2019’s figure.


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