Global air passenger demand sees steepest decline since 9/11: IATA

The coronavirus pandemic sent global air passenger demand plunging 14% in February, marking the steepest decline in traffic since the Sept 11 attacks in 2001, the global aviation association said on Thursday. Fresh data from the IATA showed that air passenger demand, measured in the number of kilometres travelled by paying passengers, nosedived 14.1% globally last month compared to February 2019. "This was the steepest decline in traffic since 9/11," IATA said, adding that the slump "reflected collapsing domestic travel in China and sharply falling international demand to/from and within the Asia-Pacific region, owing to the spreading Covid-19 (disease)... and government-imposed travel restrictions." The pain was not evenly distributed, with carriers in the Asia-Pacific region suffering a 41% drop. Global airline capacity meanwhile fell by 8.7% in February as airlines scrambled to cut back services in line with plunging traffic. "Airlines were hit by a sledgehammer called Covid-19 in February," IATA chief Alexandre de Juniac said. <br/>