Airline business will worsen before improving, IATA warns

Airline business will worsen before improving, IATA warns

“The airlines are facing a really tough start to the year for passenger business, which is where the majority of revenues come from…[The situation] will get worse before it will improve,” Brian Pearce, chief economist of IATA, said in a media briefing.According to IATA's latest figures, airlines in the Middle East saw demand plunge even further by 82.3 percent in January compared to January 2019. It's worse than the 82.6 percent decline in December compared to the same month in 2019. Capacity also sank 67.6 percent, while load factor fell 33.9 percentage points to 40.8 percent.“2021 is starting off worse than 2020 ended and that is saying a lot. Even as vaccination programmes gather pace, new COVID variants are leading governments to increase travel restrictions,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's director general and chief executive officer.“The uncertainty around how long these restrictions will last also has an impact on future travel.”So far, there aren't any signs that the business is improving. February bookings made by passengers planning to travel in the coming summer season are still 78 percent below the levels seen in February 2019.Demand is still thereIATA officials maintained that demand for air travel is still there. However, consumers