The aviation sector benefits from open borders and therefore calls for COVID-19 tests to enable more travel. According to IATA, quarantine measures and border restrictions undermine the free movement of persons and thus ‘one of the cornerstones of European Development’. The appeal to ‘European Development’ sounds rather strange for the worldwide body.

Due to the reinforced measures in many countries, IATA has become even more negative about the performance of aviation this year. The organisation is now counting on 340 million passengers by 2020, which would mean a 70% reduction on an annual basis. In 2019, 1.2 billion passengers were counted.

According to the IATA, the collapse of air traffic worldwide has a devastating effect on aviation and on the millions of workers in the sector. According to research, almost 5 million jobs are at risk in the aviation sector, as well as millions of jobs in the travel and tourism industry.

‘It is imperative that governments work together on a plan to relaunch the sector. In the meantime, additional financial support is needed to help the sector through the winter, ” says IATA. Among other things, the organisation advocates mandatory testing before departure, in order to restore confidence.

According to the industry organisation, in the second half of this year, 300,000 dollars per minute are being burned by companies worldwide. Much of the state aid that has enabled companies to remain viable is running out. The prospect of” catastrophic ” job losses is very real, warns the organisation.