NEW DELHI: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Tuesday said around 25 million jobs in the aviation industry across the globe are at the risk of vanishing, with plummeting demand for air travel amidst the Covid-19 crisis. According to its new finding, 11.2 million jobs are at risk in the Asia-Pacific alone — the highest for a specific region.
IATA had last week estimated that the Indian aviation sector could suffer losses of up to USD 8,838 million due to the pandemic, which could result in over 2.2 million people losing jobs if not assisted by the government on an urgent basis.
Globally, the livelihoods of some 65.5 million people are dependent on the aviation industry, including sectors such as travel and tourism. Among these are 2.7 million jobs in airlines alone.
“There are no words to adequately describe the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the airline industry. And the economic pain will be shared by 25 million people who work in jobs dependent on airlines. Airlines must be viable businesses so that they can lead the recovery when the pandemic is contained. A lifeline to the airlines now is critical,” said Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and chief executive officer, IATA.
Speaking of recovery, aviation consultancy firm CAPA has said that India’s aviation sector will take up to 12 months from the time restrictions are lifted to return to a pre-Covid operational fleet of 650 aircraft. Additionally, more than 200 aircraft that are scheduled for delivery over the next couple of years are likely to be deferred by 1-2 years.
Domestic traffic is expected to decline from an estimated 140 million in FY2020 to around 80-90 million in FY2021. International traffic is expected to fall from approximately 70 million in FY2020 to 35-40 million in FY2021, and possibly less.
All of CAPA’s projections assume that travel restrictions are mostly lifted by the end of the first quarter. If lockdown conditions are extended, then these estimates would be subject to revision.