Geneva (dpa) - Demand for global air travel will shrink by 0.6 per cent this year because of the new coronavirus, instead of growing by 4.1 per cent as previously expected, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday in a new forecast.
As carriers suspend flights within and to China, they will lose revenues totalling 29.3 billion dollars in 2020 because of the outbreak, the Geneva-based industry group projected.
"This will be a very tough year for airlines," IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac said in a statement.
The Asian market is set to face most of these revenue losses, with Chinese domestic traffic expected to account for 12.8 billion dollars of the total.
Demand for air travel in the Asia-Pacific region could drop by 8.2 per cent this year, according to IATA.
The figures are based on the assumption that the centre of the outbreak will remain in China.
"If it spreads more widely to Asia-Pacific markets then impacts on airlines from other regions would be larger," IATA warned.
The UN aviation organization estimated last week that the world's airlines face potential revenue losses between 4 billion and 5 billion dollars in the first quarter.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) also reported that current flight cancellations had resulted in an 80-per-cent drop of foreign airline capacity on China connections, and a 40-per-cent capacity cut by Chinese airlines.
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