Japan to suffer heaviest revenue hit among APAC countries: IATA

Japan, Australia, India and South Korea are the Asia-Pacific countries that will see the worst revenue impact from the Covid-19 pandemic, running into tens of billions of dollars, IATA has predicated. In providing a country-by-country breakdown, IATA reiterates its 9 June forecast that Asia-Pacific, as the first region to feel the impact of Covid-19, will suffer the largest loss this year: $29b, or $30.09 per passenger. The same forecast estimates that Europe will take a $21.5b hit and North America, $23.1b, against a global loss of $84.3b. In a 13 July statement, IATA’s regional VP for Asia-Pacific, Conrad Clifford, emphasises the need for governments in the Asia-Pacific region to facilitate the restart of air connectivity in line with ICAO’s guidance on measures to mitigate the public health risk. He states: “It will take a few years for the industry to get back to 2019 levels of activity. In the interim, governments will need to continue providing financial relief and assistance to airlines as well as flexibility in slot usage. We are also working with airports and air navigation service providers to identify areas of co-operation with a view to reducing costs for airlines.” IATA forecasts that Japan’s revenue will decline by $23.9b year on year in 2020 and Australia’s by $14.8b. Over the same period, IATA expects the revenue impacts on India and South Korea to be $11.6b and $11.1b respectively. The industry body predicts that most Asia-Pacific countries to lose around half of passenger demand in 2020 compared with 2019, though the revenue impact varies across countries.<br/>