The International Air Transport Association (IATA) revealed the extent to which the global travel industry has been affected by the repercussions of the economic closure due to Corona, despite optimism that it will return to its previous activity while moving forward with vaccination campaigns.
According to IATA, the net losses exceeded $100 billion at the end of last year, while total passenger revenues in the industry declined by 69 percent to $189 billion. While about 66 percent of the world's commercial air transport fleet has been suspended, governments have closed borders or imposed strict quarantines.
According to the same source, one million jobs have disappeared from the sector, and industry losses have reached $126.4 billion, whereas many governments have also acknowledged the critical contributions of aviation and provided financial lifelines and other forms of support.
The Association had expected that the total losses of airlines would amount to about 157 billion dollars in the past and current years, to increase its expectations for the sector to decrease against the background of the second wave of infections with the Coronavirus and isolation measures that affected major markets. The travel sector is one of the most affected sectors by the Corona pandemic during the past year, and its effects on the sector are expected to continue until 2024.
Source (London-based Al-Arab Newspaper, Edited)
