Airlines serving both domestic and international travels face a recovery period of up to five years if and when the COVID-19 crisis ends, with 2020 passenger loads 24-to-34 percent below last year's levels, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a press release on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2020) Airlines serving both domestic and international travels face a recovery period of up to five years if and when the COVID-19 crisis ends, with 2020 passenger loads 24-to-34 percent below last year's levels, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a press release on Wednesday.
"In 2021 we expect global passenger demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers, RPKs) to be 24 percent below 2019 levels and 32 percent lower than IATA's October 2019 Air Passenger forecast for 2021," the release said in describing what it called a 'baseline' forecast.
A second more pessimistic scenario predicted 2021 would be 34 percent lower than 2019, the release said.
Short duration domestic flights will recover first, with long-haul travel typical of international flights remaining depressed amid similarly depressed passenger confidence. In addition, customers will have to deal with a patchwork of quarantine and other health restrictions at destinations and transfer points, the release added.
"Domestic Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPKs) will only recover to 2019 levels by 2022. International RPKs are only expected to return to 2019 levels in 2024," the release said.
Short duration domestic flights will recover first, with long-haul travel typical of international flights remaining depressed as passenger confidence recovers more slowly. In addition, customers will have to deal with a patchwork of quarantine and other health restrictions at destinations and transfer points.
To avoid the latter, the release recommended that nations develop a uniform system for screening arriving passengers by preventing travel by those who are symptomatic, with temperature screening and other measures, while also addressing risks from asymptomatic travelers with robust health declarations and contact tracking.
A recent IATA poll showed 86 percent of travelers somewhat or very concerned about being quarantined when traveling and 69 percent of recent travelers would not consider traveling if it involved a 14-day quarantine period.
The release mentioned no countries by name. However South Korea has imposed some of the world's toughest rules for arriving short-term international visitors, with everyone required to spend their first 14 days in the country at a government-run quarantine facility, according to industry officials.
