IATA: International Air Travel Will Not Return To Normal Before 2023

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – One of the first victims of the restrictions on movement enforced due to the coronavirus pandemic were the airlines. With nearly all aircraft on the ground, companies around the have been struggling to survive while there are no robust projections of when the industry will pick up again.

In an interview, Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said that international air travel should not return to the 2019 levels before 2023.

According to IATA, global air travel is expected to return in stages. First, domestic flights should return to pre-pandemic levels between the end of this year and the beginning of 2021. International flights are expected to return in a second stage, but these will most likely be restricted to essential purposes such as business travel.

The association also pointed out that the global airline industry’s standardization is expected to be dependent on a vaccine and its wide distribution. It is likely that confidence in international recreational travel will not be restored any time soon.

The sector’s slow rebound should continue to impact the world economy for years to come, even more so for countries that are economically dependent on tourism.

Australia, for instance, which had already suffered from forest fires before the pandemic, is expected to see a sharp drop in the more than 8,000,000 visitors it welcomes each year, who pump billions of dollars into its GDP.

In addition to representing approximately ten percent of the global economy, the travel sector also will trigger a consumer domino effect that reduces income for airlines, hotels, restaurants, taxi drivers, artisans, tourist guides, and shopkeepers.

In all, the tourism industry employs 300 million people, with a third of all niche jobs at risk, plunging the US$1.7 trillion sector into uncertainty.

Source: Exame