It’s unheard of in aviation. Airlines could suffer more than $ 84 billion in net losses in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic worldwide, and more in 2021, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) announced on Tuesday ).
"After $ 84 billion in net losses this year, we anticipate additional losses of $ 15 billion in 2021," said Iata at a press conference. The 290 member airlines of the organization are hard hit by border closings decided all over the world to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Government assistance measures
"The losses this year will be the largest in the history of aviation," said Iata director general Alexandre de Juniac. "In comparison, the airlines had lost $ 31 billion during the great financial crisis" of 2008 and 2009.
In addition, he alerted on the future level of indebtedness of the airlines. If "the airlines entered relatively good financial shape in 2020", he said, "the financial aid measures taken by the governments prevented the airlines from going bankrupt, but increased the debt by 120 to $ 550 billion. " Or "about 92% of the expected income in 2021".
Health measures for the return of travelers
Alexandre de Juniac also insisted on the need "for governments and industry to work together for the implementation of health recommendations" of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), because according to Iata the travelers will return "on board aircraft as soon as the borders reopen" "We must be prepared so that, when the recovery takes place, the measures will be implemented universally," in order to "give passengers the confidence to fly," he explained.
The ICAO published last week a series of health recommendations for air transport providing for the wearing of a mask or temperature control. The report also recommends that states, airports and airlines implement measures "harmonized on a global and regional scale, which are the subject of consensus".
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