International passenger traffic down 89% in February, no sign of recovery: IATA

Global airline industry body IATA said international passenger traffic plunged 89 per cent in February compared to the same month last year as COVID-19 infections climbed once more, and there was no sign of an aviation recovery yet.

“International passenger traffic was down almost 89 per cent and is showing no signs of recovery in the current environment,” IATA’s new director general Willie Walsh said at a presentation on Wednesday.

Walsh, formerly the chief executive of British Airways-parent group IAG, was holding his first media briefing since taking on the IATA director general job at the beginning of April.