China says 80% of its air traffic resumes

International Air Transport Association estimated air transport industry to lose $84.3B in 2020 due to Covid-19

BEIJING:

China on Friday said around 80% of its normal air traffic resumed in the post-coronavirus “new normal,” local media reported.

At least 13,059 flights were reported to have landed and took off from airports in the country today, daily Global Times reported.

It added that the number of flights in China reported today was around 80% of the total air traffic reported before Covid-19 was first reported in December last year.

Temperature checks are being done before entering and exiting the planes besides other mandatory medical checks at airports. Passengers are required to wear face masks and the human-to-human contact has significantly reduced during the journey.

The number of flights hit was “a new high” ever since Covid-19 pandemic hit the air traffic globally, the Chinese daily said.

“Passenger traffic has recovered to nearly 70% of the same period last year, with a load factor of 73.57%,” it said.

Notably, China early this week China announced that passengers of all flights arriving from abroad would have to provide negative Covid-19 test results as the country ramps up measures against the novel coronavirus.

Air traffic across the globe was the worst hit due to the pandemic which brought world to a standstill with governments implementing lockdowns to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

In early June, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had estimated that the global air transport industry is expected to lose $84.3 billion in 2020 for a net profit margin of -20.1%.

“Financially, 2020 will go down as the worst year in the history of aviation,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO, had said.

“On average, every day of this year will add $230 million to industry losses. In total, that’s a loss of $84.3 billion.”