Coronavirus could mean 1.2 billion fewer airline passengers—UN agency

Dutch airline KLM planes are parked on the tarmac of the Schiphol Airport, in the outskirts of Amsterdam, on March 19, 2020 as several airlines cancel their flights related to the COVID-19 outbreak hitting Europe. AFP

OTTAWA — The coronavirus pandemic could mean 1.2 billion fewer airline passengers worldwide by September, the International Civil Aviation Organization said Wednesday.

The “most substantial reduction in passenger numbers,” the UN agency said in a statement, “is expected to be in Europe, especially during its peak summer travel season, followed by the Asia-Pacific.”

Airline capacity could also be significantly slashed, it said, resulting in a drop in airline revenues in the first nine months of the year by as much as $160-253 billion.

The projections are more dire than the ICAO’s initial estimates in February when the outbreak seemed to be mostly localized in China, where almost all of the first 1,400 COVID-19 deaths were recorded.

The ICAO said then that the airline industry was facing a $4-5 billion drop in revenue.

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