Passenger demand for air travel to contract by 49% for Indian airlines in 2020: IATA

The passenger demand for air travel will contract by 49 per cent this year for Indian carriers in comparison to last year due to the COVID-19 crisis, said global airlines body IATA on Monday. In a statement, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the Indian carriers' revenues will decrease by USD 11.61 billion this year in comparison to last year due to the pandemic.

It said the airlines of the Asia-Pacific region will see passenger demand collapse by 53.8 per cent this year in comparison to last year. The passenger demand or RPK (revenue passenger kilometers) for a flight is calculated by multiplying the number of passengers sitting in the flight to the distance travelled by that flight.

"This is the worst year in aviation history and airlines are in survival mode. The carriers in Asia-Pacific will experience the largest losses at USD 29 billion. That's a loss of USD 30.09 per passenger," Conrad Clifford, IATA's Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific, said. "It will take a few years for the industry to get back to 2019 levels of activity," said Clifford.

India resumed its scheduled domestic passenger flights from May 25 after a gap of two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in the country.