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The impact of coronavirus on air transport will be felt for many years, according to the International Air Transport Association, which estimates that passenger traffic will not recover to pre-crisis levels until at least 2023.
The world’s airlines trade association said demand for air travel has fallen more than 90% in Europe and the United States since the start of the pandemic, warning that the recovery will be even slower if blockades and restrictions are extended Travel.
“We are calling on governments to take a phased approach to restart the industry and fly again,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA CEO and CEO, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday. De Juniac expects some flights to resume in the summer.
“Our goal is to reopen and boost the domestic market by the end of the second quarter, and open regional or continental markets, such as Europe, North America or Asia-Pacific, for the third quarter and intercontinental in the fall,” he said. said.
“Therefore, for the summer, we expect flights within Europe to return, with attractive prices and very secure control processes.”
The external borders of the European Union remain closed to non-EU citizens until mid-June. The European Commission has recommended a gradual approach for its member states to reopen borders that would start with countries with low levels of coronavirus infections.
IATA’s comments come when travel groups are desperate to revive operations and some are already implementing plans to do so.
United Airlines has expressed its goals of scheduling Europe and China routes in June, Dubai’s flagship airline Emirates Airline will recommend nine departure routes starting May 21, and European low-cost airline Ryanair expects to have 40 % of your flights in operation by July 1. Wizz Air will restart routes from London Luton airport starting June 16, Lufthansa is planning the expansion of the service in June and IAG will resume some flights in July, among others.
Mandatory ‘useless’ quarantine
However, Juniac warned, any hope of an industry boost with some resumed travel will be dashed if governments institute mandatory 14-day quarantine periods for travelers on arrival.
“We are advocating with governments not to implement quarantine measures that will hold people for two weeks that will go anywhere,” he said.
“We believe it is useless as long as we have implemented the sanitary and sanitary controls that we are discussing with governments. It is absolutely key for the tourism industry, which is so important for so many countries in Europe.”
Dozens of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, China, Spain and possibly the United Kingdom, require international travelers to be quarantined for two weeks upon arrival, with varying degrees of enforcement: in Australia, arrivals are escorted to a hotel where they must stay for 14 days. , while in other countries they are expected to be “quarantined” in their homes. Hong Kong issued state-monitored tracking armbands that arrivals should wear to ensure they don’t leave their quarantine area. Such policies will surely deter many people from wanting to travel.
De Juniac believes that quarantine periods are simply not necessary as long as airlines and airports maintain strict sanitation and monitoring practices.
“Is it possible to have a full aircraft without the risk of contamination? Our answer is yes,” said De Juniac, “as long as we implement control and sanitary processes for passengers just before the flight, when requesting temperature control, by obligation Please wear a mask, cleaning the aircraft properly and disinfecting properly, limiting food distribution to prepackaged food, limiting cabin baggage to one baggage to avoid the process of disembarking and boarding to be too full. “
With a multi-layered approach, he argued, “you limit the risk of contamination … And then quarantine is not useful from our point of view in this case.”
Lufthansa aircraft parked on the runway in Frankfurt, Germany.
Maxar
Looking at the nature of the flight – numerous people packed into a confined space, carrying and picking up luggage, using airplane toilets – it’s hard to imagine that any kind of virus spread or contamination can be completely prevented.
But the IATA chief stood firm, citing on-board studies conducted “which show that the risk of contamination is absolutely minimal, even when no special equipment is available.”
He added that air filters in aircraft ensure safe ventilation, that sitting behind the backs of seats rather than face to face with other passengers reduces the spread of droplets, and that mandatory masks will further reduce pollution. .
“So if you have special equipment, special controls, special cleaning, reduce the risk to something that will never be zero but will be negligible. That is our strong belief based on studies, on the equipment we are using and on something that is still More importantly, it is safety, which is the key priority of this industry, “he said.
De Juniac emphasized that passenger safety came first, and that the resumption of activity ultimately depended on government decisions.
“I think that travelers expect us to implement a safe process of health and sanitary control for passengers. We are working with governments on that,” he added.
“It will be possible to fly safely at least in Europe, we hope, and then it depends on government decisions to lift travel restrictions and border closures.”
