Passenger demand to drop by 50% in India: IATA

Mumbai: India is likely to witness an almost 50% drop in passenger demand this year as compared to last due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest forecast released by global airlines trade body, International Air Transport Association. The Asia-Pacific airline industry will account for more than a third of global losses, making it the worst-hit in the world, it added.
In India, the 49% drop in passenger demand could result in a decrease of 93 million passengers (origin-destination volumes 2020 vs 2019), a drop of USD 11,600 million in revenues (2020 vs 2019) and potentially hit over 3 million jobs in aviation and its dependent sectors, IATA said. Passenger demand is measured in ‘revenue passenger kilometers’, a metric that multiplies the number of fare-paying passengers with the total distance they travel.
“Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region will be the hardest hit by the Covid-19 crisis, with losses expected to be $29 billion for 2020. This is more than a third of the $84.3 billion industry losses globally,” said the IATA forecast released on Monday.