Middle East airlines are still waiting to see a rebound from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as the region saw a drop in passenger demand of nearly 87 percent in October, new figures have revealed.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the recovery of passenger demand continued to be disappointingly slow during the month.
In the Middle East, airlines saw an 86.7 percent traffic drop for October compared to the year-earlier period, slightly improved from an 89.3 percent demand drop in September.
Capacity dived 73.6 percent in October while load factor declined 36.6 percent to 37 percent, well down on the global average.
Globally, IATA said total demand was down 70.6 percent compared to October 2019. This was just a modest improvement from the 72.2 percent year-to-year decline recorded in September. Capacity was down 59.9 percent compared to a year ago and load factor fell 21.8 percent to 60.2 percent.
The aviation authority also said international passenger demand in October was down 87.8 percent compared to October 2019, virtually unchanged from the 88 percent year-to-year decline recorded in September.
“Fresh outbreaks of Covid-19 and governments’ continued reliance on heavy-handed quarantines resulted in another catastrophic month for air travel demand. While the pace of recovery is faster in some regions than others, the overall picture for international travel is grim. This uneven recovery is more pronounced in domestic markets, with China’s domestic market having nearly recovered, while most others remain deeply depressed,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO.
His comments follow IATA’s forecast last month that Middle Eastern airlines are expected to see their losses rise to $7.1 billion this year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to decimate the aviation industry.
“Dependence of airlines in this region on connecting international flights and lack of large domestic markets will delay the recovery in the region,” IATA said, adding that losses in 2021 are set to narrow to $3.3 billion.
IATA previously said full-year 2020 passenger numbers in the Middle East are forecast to reach only 30 percent of 2019 levels, down significantly from the 45 percent that was projected in July.
In absolute numbers, the Middle East is expected to see 60 million travellers this year compared to the 203 million in 2019.
The aviation authority said that a full return to 2019 levels is not expected until late 2024 in the Middle East region.
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