Arab Air Carriers Organization reveals sector's losses in 2020, recovery scenarios

CAIRO – 12 September 2020: The Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) displayed on Saturday the figures the industry is expected to record in the cases of a speedy recovery and a slow one while revealing losses.

The AACO pointed out that the global economy is speculated to shrink by 4.9 percent while the Arab economy is expected to contract by 5.7 percent. The former can recover fast in 2021 while the speedy recovery of the latter will occur in 2022. In case of slow recovery, both will improve in 2023.

Speaking of air transportation figures, passenger flights declined by 54.7 percent globally, and 57.1 percent on the Arab scale. As for the recovery, passenger flights can return to 2019 figures on the global and Arab levels by 2024 in case it is fast. If it is slow, the recovery will happen by 2027.

The air transportation losses in 2020 are estimated at $5.5 trillion globally and $194 million in the Arab World.

The revenues of the tourism and travel sector in the Arab World are speculated to plummet by 72.9 percent. That is the equivalent of $72 billion.

The jobs lost in the air transportation sector globally and in the Arab Countries stand at 197.5 million and 7.5 million (48 percent), respectively.