Will QAN survive?, page-2113

From 'The Oz' this morning. It's historical data but not a pretty picture, and relevant here given our Omicron wave started after some other developed nations:

The IATA, which groups over 290 airlines, said international air travel had been slowly but steadily recovering from the mass shutdowns of 2020 and early 2021 before the fast-spreading Omicron strain was discovered at the end of November.

Ticket sales in November were 60.5 percent below their pre-pandemic November 2019 level, marking an improvement on the 64.8 percent decline recorded a month earlier.

"Unfortunately, governments overreacted to the emergence of the Omicron variant at the close of the month and resorted to the tried-and-failed methods of border closures, excessive testing of travellers and quarantine to slow the spread," IATA president Willie Walsh said.

"Not surprisingly, international ticket sales made in December and early January fell sharply compared to 2019, suggesting a more difficult first quarter than had been expected," he added.

IATA members account for 83 percent of global air traffic.

In October, the association forecast cumulative industry losses of $US11.6bn in 2022, down from an estimated $US51.8bn in 2021 and $US137.7bn in 2020.

The International Civil Aviation Organization said separately that preliminary data shows the number air passengers was down by 49 percent last year from pre-pandemic levels in 2019. That was an improvement from the 60 percent drop in 2020.

The ICAO, a UN body, said airlines lost out on $US324bn in revenue last year due to the drop in traffic, which was less than $US372bn in lost revenue in 2020