Geneva (AFP)

Passenger air traffic, severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, collapsed 14.1% worldwide in February, compared with the previous year, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) announced on Thursday.

"This is the largest drop in traffic since September 11, reflecting the collapse of domestic travel to China and the sharp drop in international demand to and from the Asia-Pacific region, due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus and travel restrictions imposed by governments, "Iata said in a statement.

The new coronavirus, reported in late December by Chinese authorities to the World Health Organization (WHO), has officially infected almost a million people and has claimed more than 48,000 lives so far worldwide.

In the absence of a vaccine or treatment, to curb the spread of the pandemic, containment remains the most effective means of control. Half of the world's population is thus forced to stay at home or forced to do so, while many planes are grounded due to traffic restrictions linked to the coronavirus.

The 14.1% drop in global passenger traffic (international and domestic) is "severe, but for carriers in the Asia-Pacific region, the drop was 41%. And it is only getting worse," said the general manager of Iata, Alexandre de Juniac, quoted in the press release.

"It is without a doubt the biggest crisis the sector has ever known," he insisted.

The new coronavirus crisis is expected to deprive the global airline industry of $ 252 billion in revenue this year, the federation warned last week.

International passenger traffic also fell sharply, falling 10.1% in February compared to the same period in 2019. This was the largest drop since the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic that hit 774 deaths worldwide in 2002-2003.

In February, with the exception of European airlines (+ 0.2%) and the Middle East (+ 1.6%), all the others recorded declines in their international passenger traffic.

Asia-Pacific airlines saw their international passenger traffic collapse by 30.4% in January, compared to an annual comparison. Carriers in the North America region reported a decrease of -2.8%, those in Africa of -1.1% and those in Latin America of -0.4%.

As for national passenger traffic, it fell by 20.9% in February at an annual rate, weighed down by the collapse of Chinese air traffic (-83.6%), the largest decline since Iata began to follow the market in 2000.

American airlines, on the other hand, had one of their best months in February, as domestic traffic jumped 10.1%. However, demand started to drop towards the end of the month, with the full effect of the pandemic expected to show up in March.

© 2020 AFP