The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently revealed in its latest forecast that airlines globally would lose $84 billion this year due to the pandemic.
It further said revenue would likely fall to $419 billion from $838 billion last year.
IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac told the media, “Every day of this year will add $230 million to industry losses. Airlines will still be financially fragile in 2021,” De Juniac said, predicting “even more intense” competition.
“That will translate into strong incentives for travellers to take to the skies again,” he added.
IATA also said that average loss amounts to almost $38 per passenger flown.
IATA also warned losses could hit $100 billion in 2021 as traffic would struggle to recover and as a result, airlines would slash fares to stay competitive.
In its forecast, the association said that the global aviation sector could lose around $598 billion in revenue the next year.
Last month, IATA revealed that debt accumulated by the global aviation industry could increase by 28 percent this year, reaching $550 billion.
This marks a $120 million increase in debt since the beginning of this year. Out of the new debt, around $67 million comes from government loans, $5 billion from deferred loans.
The analysis by IATA further revealed that $52 billion is from commercial sources including commercial loans ($23 billion), capital market debt ($18 billion), debt from new operating leases ($5 billion), and accessing existing credit facilities ($6 billion).
Global air passenger traffic plunged by 94.3 percent in the month of April this year, when compared to the same month in the previous year.