International Air Passenger Traffic Drops To 74% Of Pre-Pandemic Levels - Trade Group

COVID-19 travel limits continued to throttle international travel, with global air carriers reporting a 74.7 percent drop in passengers compared with pre-pandemic levels, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2021) COVID-19 travel limits continued to throttle international travel, with global air carriers reporting a 74.7 percent drop in passengers compared with pre-pandemic levels, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Wednesday.

"Total demand for air travel in February 2021 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was down 74.7% compared to February 2019," IATA said in a press release. "That was worse than the 72.2% decline recorded in January 2021 versus two years ago.

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IATA attributed the decline to tightening travel restrictions by many nations, especially "demand-killing" quarantine requirements for arriving passengers.

For international travel to recover, the IATA called for the development of global standards for a rapid, digital COVID-19 test along with a global vaccination certificate.

The IATA said it created a Travel Pass app for smartphones that includes a person's vaccination history. The app is now accepted on a trial basis in Singapore.