The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has lowered its forecast on aviation traffic in the Middle East region for the current year 2020, which reflects a slower recovery than previously expected.
The Association expected that the rates of air passenger traffic will decrease throughout 2020, to, from and within the Middle East region, to reach 30 percent of the levels recorded in 2019, and down from the 45 percent expected in July.
It also stated that it is likely that the number of travelers in the region will reach 45 million in 2020, compared to 155 million in 2019. Indicating that the demand will increase in 2021, according to expectations, to 45 percent of the levels recorded in 2019, to reach 90 million to, from and within the Middle East, noting that the region will not return to the levels it recorded last year until the end of 2024.
According to IATA, the region witnessed a slight improvement compared to the lowest levels recorded during the month of April, after some countries opened their borders again, indicating that according to the record of future air travel reservations, the rates of improvement will be much slower than those previously expected, as previous expectations were indicated to a decrease in passenger rates to 45 percent compared to 2019, but the continued spread of the virus in some major markets, and the continued imposition of travel restrictions and quarantine measures, indicate that the region will record only a third of the level of air traffic than it was in the previous year.
Source (Al-Rai Newspaper-Kuwait, Edited)
