https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2021-02-03-02/from cnbc
More contagious strains of Covid-19 and new travel restrictions could limit air travel demand this year to just a 13% increase from 2020, the International Air Transport Association said.
The trade group currently forecasts demand will rise by more than 50% this year from last, which would put passenger traffic at just over half of 2019 levels, but warned of “severe downside risk” if more travel restrictions are put in place.
The U.S. government is “actively looking” at whether to require Covid-19 tests for domestic flights, something it mandated last month for inbound international travel. Many countries, including the U.S., are still limiting international travel or have strict quarantine requirements in place.
“Last year was a catastrophe. There is no other way to describe it,” said IATA’s director-general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac. “What recovery there was over the Northern hemisphere summer season stalled in autumn and the situation turned dramatically worse over the year-end holiday season, as more severe travel restrictions were imposed in the face of new outbreaks and new strains of COVID-19.
—Leslie Josephs
