IATA Boss 'Optimistic' about Rebound in Air Travel as U.S. Opens Up

Geneva — Things may be looking up for the world's beleaguered airlines after spending 18 months navigating Covid-19 disruptions that kept planes and passengers on the ground.

Business is still far from pre-pandemic levels, but the trend is positive, said Willie Walsh, director-general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), in Geneva on Wednesday.

Bookings on lucrative trans- Atlantic routes between Europe and the United States have risen sharply since Washington announced in September that the country would reopen to fully vaccinated travellers from November 8.

What's also clear after months stuck at home videoconferencing is that there is a growing desire for face-to-face meetings, reflected in the rising demand for business-class seats, Walsh said.

"I'm more optimistic about business traffic than I had been," he said.

But Walsh warned that staffing shortages could hurt the recovery, with airlines having slashed their staffs during the pandemic and many now finding it difficult to hire new employees quickly enough.

In the US, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines recently had to cancel hundreds of flights, in part due to staffing issues.

But the data shows there is still a lot of catching up to do.

According to the IATA trade group, intra-European traffic in September was 44 per cent below 2019 levels, and Europe-North America travel was down 65 per cent.

Business from Europe to Asia was 87 per cent below pre-crisis levels, and there is hardly any flying within Asia, down 97 per cent.

Walsh reiterated that the aviation industry wants to become carbon neutral by 2050. Governments now need to shape the framework for this, for example by promoting and providing sufficient sustainable fuels, he said.

He criticized plans in Europe, for example, to abolish short-haul flights for climate protection reasons or to tax them heavily.

Flights of up to 500 kilometres accounted for 24 per cent of all flights in 2019, according to a Eurocontrol study, but were responsible for only 3.8 percent of carbon emissions.

Governments could save significantly more CO2, up to 12 per cent, if they finally implemented the Single European Sky, IATA says. The initiative of the European Commission would enable more efficient flights, with fewer holding patterns and less kerosene consumption.

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