IATA: Asia Pacific airlines impacted most by Covid-19
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Asia Pacific airlines are expected to be the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with combined losses of about $29 billion, IATA says.
That represents more than a third of global losses which could reach $84.3 billion.
The region was first to be affected by the pandemic but six months on, there has been patchy progress in reopening international borders.
Passenger demand based on the revenue passenger kilometres metric will be down by 54% this year.
"In this bleak outlook, the priority is for the region’s governments to facilitate the restart of air connectivity in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Take-off guidance and principles," said Conrad Clifford, IATA’s regional vice president for Asia Pacific.
"It will take a few years for the industry to get back to 2019 levels of activity. In the interim, governments will need to continue providing financial relief and assistance to airlines," he added.
by Ray Montgomery, Asia editor
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TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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