Etihad now expects global air travel demand to recover only by 2024

Etihad Airways on Sunday slashed its outlook for a full recovery in air travel demand. The carrier now expects passenger numbers on its routes to return to pre-COVID levels only by 2024. “We're expecting to see stronger demand certainly in the second half of the year (2021),” said Martin Drew, Senior VP Sales & Cargo at Etihad. However, a return to 2019 levels will happen much later. “Our latest view is that we'll see a full recovery now by 2024; previously it was 2023,” he added. The airline is already seeing higher numbers on ‘ethnic’ routes such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, the executive said Sunday. Etihad, which is among the three Gulf carriers working with IATA on its ‘Travel Pass’ initiative, said passenger trials will begin in April on its North American routes. Chris Youlten, Executive Director Operations Strategy at Etihad, said that IATA’s platform was only one of the travel passes the airline is currently exploring.<br/>