Air transport … towards an unknown future!

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) fears a decrease in the number of airlines caused by this health crisis linked to the Coronavirus. The head of the association, Alexandre de Juniac, spoke about the situation on BFM Business, specifying “It is probable that the industry will emerge from this rather reduced crisis, that is to say that there will have fewer actors, and probably a little smaller “.

Airlines will see their results drop another 46% next year, according to the same association, which also forecasts a 40 to 50% drop in employment in the sector. IATA is pessimistic about the return to normalcy of the aviation sector following all the restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic (border closures and quarantine measures) which paralyze flight operations. Testing must replace quarantine measures in order to allow the industry to evolve.

Governments are called on to maintain aid to the aviation sector, in order to avoid bankruptcies and preserve jobs in 2021 by IATA, which forecasts a 66% drop in traffic compared to 2019 and a 46% drop in total revenues from industry in 2021, after a previous analysis that said a decline of about 29%. Airlines “have on average only 8.5 months of cash at current spending rates,” says IATA chief executive who predicts a very tough fourth quarter and stresses the importance of acting quickly facing this economic and social disaster, calling on governments to take the necessary measures, specifying that “some 1.3 million jobs in the airlines are threatened. And that would have a domino effect putting at risk an additional 3.5 million jobs in the aviation sector, as well as a total of 46 million people in the wider economy whose jobs are supported by the aviation industry. aviation “… and this loss will” have a dramatic impact on global GDP, threatening $ 1.8 trillion in economic activity. ”

The association predicted that the industry will spend $ 77 billion in the second half of 2020: nearly $ 13 billion per month, or $ 300,000 per minute, which will cause them to deplete their cash reserves. To do this, she reiterated her appeal to governments for additional aid measures.

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