From 2020 to 2022, the global Air freight services industry will have a cumulative loss of US$20.1 billion. While the loss is gradually narrowing, challenges continue.
The latest aviation industry financial performance outlook of the International Air Transport Association (IATA, hereinafter referred to as "International Air Transport Association") shows that despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the performance of the global aviation industry has improved:-In 2021, the industry’s net loss is expected to reach 518 Billion U.S. dollars, higher than the estimated loss in April (47.7 billion U.S. dollars); the net loss in 2022 will fall to 11.6 billion U.S. dollars. The 2020 net loss forecast has been revised to 137.7 billion U.S. dollars (previously expected loss of 126.4 billion U.S. dollars). After the above losses are added up, the global aviation industry has accumulated losses of up to US$201 billion from 2020 to 2022. -The demand in 2021 (measured in RPK) is expected to remain at 40% of the level in 2019, and it will rise to 61% in 2022. -In 2021, the total number of passenger traffic will reach 2.3 billion. It will increase to 3.4 billion passenger trips in 2022, similar to the 2014 level, but far below the 4.5 billion passenger trips in 2019. -Air cargo demand will continue to remain strong, with demand in 2021 higher than 2019 level by 7.9%, and in 2022 higher than 13.2%.
Mr. Willie Walsh, Chairman of the International Air Transport Association, said: “For airlines, the impact of the epidemic crisis is huge. From 2020 to 2022, the industry has accumulated losses of more than 200 billion U.S. dollars. In order to survive. , Airlines cut costs drastically and used every opportunity to adjust their business, thereby reducing the 2021 loss from 137.7 billion US dollars in 2020 to 52 billion US dollars. In 2022, the loss will be further narrowed to 12 billion US dollars. We have already passed through The darkest moment of the crisis. Although the situation is still grim, the road to recovery is already ahead. The aviation industry once again demonstrated its resilience and flexibility."
The air cargo business has performed well, and domestic travel will also approach pre-crisis levels in 2022. The challenge is that the international travel market is still in a severe downturn due to the travel restrictions imposed by the government.
Rebuilding global connectivity, the 11.3 million jobs in the aviation industry (before the pandemic), and the US$3.5 trillion GDP related to travel and tourism should be government priorities.
