The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects airlines to incur more than $84 billion in net losses during the fiscal year 2020, and more than 15 billion in 2021, as a result of the emerging Coronavirus.
In this regard, the CEO of the International Air Transport Association, Alexandre de Juniac pointed out that this year's losses will be the largest in aviation history, pointing out that for comparison, airlines lost 31 billion dollars during the major financial crisis in 2008 and 2009.
De Juniac warned of the airline debt level in the future, explaining that the airline in 2020 entered a relatively good financial position, noting that the financial assistance measures taken by the governments prevented the bankruptcy of the companies, but it increased the debt from 120 to 550 billion dollars or about 92% of expected revenues in the year 2021. He also emphasized the need for governments and the sector to work together to implement the health recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), because passengers will return to aircraft once the borders are opened again.
He also stressed that we should be ready, when the activity is resumed, to implement measures all over the world in order to give passengers the confidence to travel.
The International Civil Aviation Organization has published a set of health recommendations for the aviation sector, alerting them to the need to use masks, check passenger temperature and sterilize aircraft. The report recommends countries, airports and airlines to implement non-mandatory measures, but it is the fruit of broad consensus that gives authority to make it a global reference.
Source (Al-Raya Newspaper-Qatar, Edited)
