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GLOBAL air travel demand will decline for the first time since 2009 due to the corona virus outbreak, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The temporary suspension of official travel from the company and overall demand for flights, occurred after the issue of the corona virus spread rapidly. As a result, airline operators have either delayed service or drastically reduced flight services to and from China.
The impact of the corona virus on demand will cost airlines globally more than US$29 billion, most of which operate in the Asia-Pacific region, according to IATA estimates.
Chinese airlines alone will lose revenues of US$12.8 billion because of the outbreak. IATA estimates that demand growth in 2020 of 4.1 percent is revised to a contraction of 0.6 percent.
The prediction is based on the assumption that the virus is still largely concentrated in China, but IATA warns that the impact could be greater if it spreads to other markets in the region, as quoted by CNBC.com.
The organization estimates that the downward trend in demand forms a “V” curve or the same as it did during the SARS outbreak in 2003 which was marked by a six month decline and an equally rapid recovery.
According to IATA CEO, Alexandre de Juniac in his press release said this was a challenging time for the global air transportation industry. Stopping the spread of viruses is a top priority. The airline follows the guidelines of the World Health Organization and other public health authorities to safeguard the safety of passengers, the connected world, and spread viruses.
Meanwhile, given from the IATA website, www.iata.org reports that in the same scenario, operators outside of the Asia-Pacific region are estimated to bear a revenue loss of US$1.5 billion assuming loss of demand is limited to markets connected with China.
This condition will bring total lost global income to US$29.3 billion. For the record, passenger revenue is 5 percent lower than IATA estimates in December last year. [sources/photo special]
