An updated International Air Transport Association (IATA) report maintains global passenger travel traffic recovery has been slower than had been expected.
Per the IATA analysis, global passenger traffic is not forecast to return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2024, which the organization said represents a year later than what had been previously projected.
“Passenger traffic hit bottom in April, but the strength of the upturn has been very weak,” IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said. “What improvement we have seen has been domestic flying. International markets remain largely closed. Consumer confidence is depressed and not helped by the UK’s weekend decision to impose a blanket quarantine on all travelers returning from Spain. And in many parts of the world, infections are still rising. All of this points to a longer recovery period and more pain for the industry and the global economy.”
The IATA has cited such contributing factors as slow virus containment in the United States and developing economies, reduced corporate travel, and weaker consumer confidence regarding slower international passenger traffic recovery.
“For airlines, this is bad news that points to the need for governments to continue with relief measures—financial and otherwise,” de Juniac said. “A full Northern Winter season waiver on the 80-20 use-it-or-lose it slot rule, for example, would provide critical relief to airlines in planning schedules amid unpredictable demand patterns. Airlines are planning their schedules. They need to keep sharply focused on meeting demand and not meeting slot rules that were never meant to accommodate the sharp fluctuations of a crisis.”