Middle East air travel demand in 2021 forecast to be 67% below pre-Covid levels

Middle East air travel demand in 2021 forecast to be 67% below pre-Covid levels

Air travel demand in the Middle East during 2021 is forecast to be nearly 67 percent lower than 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic decimated the global aviation industry.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Wednesday that the region is likely to see the slowest demand rebound of any in the world with North America seeing the fastest (down 41.5 percent on 2019).

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It added that Middle East airline capacity is likely to be 59 percent down on 2019 although losses are set to shrink to $4.2 billion from $7.9 billion last year.

IATA said in a statement: "Middle Eastern carriers will benefit from relatively rapid vaccination rates on home markets. They will be hampered, however, by continued travel restrictions on many of the routes to emerging economies that are served through Gulf hub connections.

"Net losses in 2021 are forecast at -13.8 percent of revenues (reduced from -28.9 percent of revenues in 2020). It will be the third smallest regional loss."

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