Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has downgraded its traffic forecast for 2020 to reflect a weaker-than-expected recovery in the air transport industry. This is stated in the message of the organization.

IATA currently expects traffic to drop 66% in 2020 compared to 2019. The previous estimate assumed a decline of 63%.

“The demand for passenger transportation in August continued to fall compared to the usual level. Domestic air travel continued to outpace international travel in terms of recovery, although most remained substantially lower than a year ago. Passenger capacity in August decreased by 63.8% compared to last year, and the load factor fell by 27.2 points to a record low in August of 58.5%,” the association noted.

“Until a few months ago, we thought that a 63% annual drop in demand compared to 2019 would be as bad as possible. With the grim peak of summer travel behind us, we have revised our expectations down to -66%,” said Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of IATA.

International passenger demand fell 88.3% in August compared to August 2019, slightly better than the 91.8% decline recorded in July. Domestic passenger traffic in August fell by 50.9%. This was a slight improvement from the 56.9% fall in July.

“Traditionally, the funds received during the active summer season provide airlines with a safety cushion during the fall and winter seasons. Airlines have no such protection this year. Without additional government relief measures and border opening, hundreds of thousands of airline jobs will disappear. However, it is not just airlines and airline jobs that are at risk - worldwide, tens of millions of jobs depend on aviation.

If the borders are not reopened, the livelihoods of these people will be seriously threatened. We need an internationally agreed COVID-19 pre-departure testing regime to give governments the confidence to open borders and to passengers with confidence that they can travel by air again, said Mr de Juniac.

As a reminder, back in April, against the backdrop of the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, IATA expected a 46% drop in global air travel. In the summer, the forecast was revised first to -55%, and then to -63%.