Middle East airline passenger demand won’t recover until 2024: IATA – ZAWYA

Middle East airline passenger demand won’t recover until 2024: IATA – ZAWYA

Middle East airline passenger demand won't recover until 2024: IATA Airlines still struggling; reserves now depleted, says top official    A Kuwaiti passenger holding his luggage walks by the police and civil aviation personnel upon his arrival from Amman at Kuwait Airport, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Kuwait City, Kuwait April 21, 2020. Airlines in the Middle East continue to bleed with falling revenues as passenger numbers remain well below pre-coronavirus levels despite the easing of travel restrictions.As of late July 2020, the number of flights operated by carriers in the region is still 70 percent lower compared to January this year, according to Muhammad Albakri, the regional vice president of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for Africa and the Middle East.Passenger demand in the region, which is now down 60 percent compared with the same period a year ago, is also expected to recover much later, in 2024, which is a year later than anticipated in IATA's April forecast.As of late July 2020, the number of flights operated by carriers in the region is still 70 percent lower compared to January this year, according to Muhammad Albakri, the regional vice president of the International