Many airlines could disappear according to IATA

Losses in the air sector continue to widen over the months, the crisis deepens, and the International Air Transport Association warns that few airlines will survive if the restrictions due to COVID-19 continue during September and October.

Many Latin American airlines could close if air activity is not resumed in the coming weeks, since by then, many planes could be in the ‘plane graveyard‘, and airlines would have been inactive for six or seven months, due to the closures decreed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, warned Peter Cerdá, IATA vice president for the Americas: “If the restrictions or border closures continue entering September or October, we have the possibility that a large majority of our airlines will begin to disappear.”

Cerdá also indicated that in Latin America and the Caribbean state aid to reactivate the airline sector has been “practically nil”, so it would be very difficult for airlines to survive or restructure in the near future. 

“At a global level there are around 130,000 million dollars, what governments have given to the aeronautical industry to survive in this situation,” said the IATA vice president.

However, Cerdá stated that the main aid that IATA requests from governments is not monetary. The main request is that:

“central governments give the order to reactivate and restart air transport in the region, applying the necessary biosecurity protocols.“

According to IATA, the global number of passengers is expected to decrease by 55% in 2020 compared to 2019; and world air traffic will have to wait four years to regain its levels prior to the current pandemic.

Expand this information in AFP.