:format(jpg):watermark(cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/EF665FJJCNGHFFHRRMWR57UKMI.png,0,30,0)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/CBDRNVFGOFHFZL33E3J2RQKQLE.jpg "All the world’s airlines will meet in Boston this Sunday")
Still stunned by the pandemic which made it lose billions, pointed out for its contribution to global warming, an air sector under very strong pressure will find itself in conclave from Sunday. The 77th Annual General Meeting of the International Air Transport Association (Iata), for three days in Boston (United States), will mark a return to face-to-face meetings, after a 2020 edition mainly by videoconference due to Covid-19.
Hundreds of delegates, airline executives and journalists are expected on the occasion in the Massachusetts capital, although Iata has planned a virtual component.
Indeed, while awaiting the conditional reopening of American borders to foreigners promised at the beginning of November, reaching Boston from Europe or Asia is still akin to an obstacle course, between authorizations issued in a trickle and the obligation of tests, even quarantine.
Beyond the waves of contamination, Iata has been deploring for months the global patchwork of rules discouraging travelers, despite the progression of vaccinations and the establishment of health certificates as within the European Union.
Traffic still low
The result ? Intercontinental traffic still very low, down nearly 74% last July compared to the level for the same month of 2019.
Many companies remain in deficit, even if the situation is less cataclysmic for them than at the start of the pandemic.
Last year was, according to Iata, “the worst” in the history of the industry, with ridership falling 60% to 1.8 billion passengers (from 4.5 billion in 2019), that the strong demand for freight could not compensate.
The companies, weighed down by large fixed costs, suffered a cumulative net loss of $ 126 billion, and a drop in their turnover of nearly 70%, according to Iata, which federates 290 companies totaling 82% of world traffic. The organization does not anticipate a return to 2019 global traffic before 2024.
Another challenge is the growing contribution of air travel to global CO₂ emissions, currently around 3%.
The members of Iata have pledged to reduce their CO₂ emissions by 50% by 2050 compared to 2005. But this objective is already 12 years old.
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