Airlines could lose up to $113b on back of coronavirus, says Iata

The impact of the coronavirus could result in passenger airlines losing up to $113b in revenues this year, the IATA has said, adding that the collapse of Flybe is proof that “urgent action” is needed to protect the industry. The updated forecast is almost four times the estimate from only 13 days ago, reflecting the spread of the coronavirus outbreak to Europe. Airline share prices have fallen on average by nearly 25% since the outbreak began, a drop six times greater than at the same point in the Sars outbreak of 2003. Iata said with limited further spread of the virus, in markets with more than 100 currently confirmed Covid-19 cases, there could be a recovery that would lead to global losses being limited to $63b this year, predominantly in the Asia-Pacific region. However, should similar patterns emerge in countries that currently only have 10 or more cases, Iata said the crash in revenues would reach the levels of the financial crisis, with Europe and the US being hit by huge losses as sales fall by 19%.<br/>