This archive report was first published on 22 April 2020.
Published on April 22, 2020, a survey by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) highlighted the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air travel.
According to the survey, around 40% of passengers worldwide are planning to wait at least six months or more for air travel, while 60% anticipate returning to airline travel after one to two months of containment.
“Passenger confidence will suffer a double whammy even after the pandemic is contained — hit by personal economic concerns in the face of a looming recession on top of lingering concerns about the safety of travel,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO.
De Juniac emphasized the need for governments and the industry to work together to implement confidence-boosting measures, stating, “Governments and industry must be quick and coordinated with confidence-boosting measures.”
Although there are indications that passengers are returning to their travel behavior in countries where new coronavirus cases have fallen to low levels, the IATA warned that an immediate rebound from the catastrophic fall in passenger demand appears unlikely.
“People still want to travel,” de Juniac said, adding that confidence-boosting measures will be critical to restart travel and stimulate economies.
The IATA estimates that around 25 million jobs in aviation and its related value-chains, including the tourism sector, are at risk due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Passenger revenues are expected to be $314 billion, or 55%, less this year than in 2019, with demand in the second quarter of 2020 estimated to plummet by 80% or more compared to the same period of last year.
