Coronavirus: Air traffic may fall 13% in Asia-Pacific region, says IATA

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is expected to cause a 13 per cent full-year loss of passenger demand for carriers in the Asia-Pacific region, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday.

According to IATA, considering that growth for the region’s airlines was forecast to be 4.8 per cent, the net impact will be an 8.2 per cent full-year contraction compared to 2019 demand levels.

“In this scenario, that would translate into a $27.8 billion revenue loss in 2020 for carriers in the Asia-Pacific region – the bulk of which would be borne by carriers registered in China, with $12.8 billion lost in the China domestic market alone,” IATA said in a statement.

“In the same scenario, carriers outside Asia-Pacific are forecast to bear a revenue loss of $1.5 billion, assuming the loss of demand is limited to markets linked to China.”