Airline traffic to fall by two-thirds this year: IATA

Global airlines have revised traffic forecasts lower, sector federation IATA said Tuesday, warning that hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk without more state aid.

The International Air Transport Association downgraded its 2020 traffic forecast following a “dismal end to the summer travel season” in the northern hemisphere and now expects it to be 66 percent below the level in 2019, a statement said.

IATA’s previous forecast was for a drop of 63 per cent, but that was before the government reimposed travel restrictions in August and the outlook faltered for the rest of the year, it added.

The association, which represents 290 airlines, said that August traffic, which it measures in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs, plunged by 75.3 percent from the same period in 2019.