Air travel industry 'hugely depressed'; Mideast passenger demand plummets 92.3% | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Air travel industry 'hugely depressed'; Mideast passenger demand plummets 92.3% | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

The international air travel industry continues to be “hugely depressed” and is heading into a slow winter season, as the second wave of coronavirus cases and return of travel restrictions dampened passenger confidence, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.

The air transport body reiterated its call for the governments to reopen their borders and remove restrictions, citing that carriers around the world are still “burning through cash” despite attempts to re-open businesses and revive the economies.

In the Middle East, home to some of the world’s biggest long-haul operators, passenger demand fell 92.3 percent in August, while capacity collapsed 81.9 percent and load factor sank nearly half (47.1 percentage points) to 35.3 percent, the air transport body said. Carriers in the Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America and Africa also witnessed a similar trend, with the decline in demand hovering above 90 percent.

The air transport body also revised its forecast for 2020 and now expects full-year passenger traffic to fall 66 percent, compared with the earlier estimated decline of 63 percent.