Amid coronavirus pandemic, global airlines body IATA said on Tuesday that the airlines would face USD 252 billion-loss of passenger revenue in 2020, which would be 44 per cent lower than 2019 figures. “On March 5, we thought that the pessimistic scenario was a revenue loss of USD 113 billion. That was based on wide spreading of COVID-19, but not as severe as the current blanket of travel restrictions,” said Alexandre De Juniac, Director General, International Air Transport Association (IATA). He told reporters in a conference call that “if this lasts for a three-month period, we see a 38 per cent fall in global demand and a USD 252 billion loss of passenger revenue 44 per cent down on 2019”.
International Air Transport Association (IATA) represents around 290 airlines comprising 82 per cent of the global air traffic. India has banned international flights for a period of one week from Sunday. Moreover, there would be no domestic flights in India from Tuesday midnight to March 31.
