International Air Transport Association

Travel pass – a Covid-19 vaccination passport app developed by the International Air Transport Association – will be tested on Air New Zealand flights between Auckland and Sydney from April on “to streamline the health verification process to help customers know what they need to take their next international trip safely”.

According to IATA, airlines would need an additional $80 billion to survive the Covid-19 crisis. Governments already injected $160 billion into the sector.

IATA has predicted a painfully slow recovery with a return to pre-crisis traffic levels only in 2024 and passenger numbers still down 30% next year.

The IATA's financial outlook for the global air transport industry is grim. The airline industry is expecting a record loss of US$84 billion and a net profit margin drop of 20 percent with a forecast revenue loss of 50 percent or US$419 billion. IATA's CEO and Director General Alexandre de Juniac said the industry is losing an average of US$230 million per day, calling 2020 'the worst year in the history of aviation'. Assuming there is no 'second and more damaging wave of COVID-19', de Juniac is hopeful that 'the worst of the collapse in traffic is likely behind us'.

Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of the International Air Transport Association, says that air travel and passenger demand won't return to normal until at least 2023. According to IATA, demand for air travel has dropped a staggering 90% in both the U.S. and Europe since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic early March. “So for summer we hope that you will see flights within Europe coming back, with I hope interesting prices and very safe processes of control", so Alexandre de Juniac.