Airlines could lose up to $113 bln in passenger revenue due to coronavirus, IATA says

Airlines could lose $63 billion to $113 billion in revenue for passenger traffic globally in 2020, depending on how the coronavirus spreads, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday.

The last time the industry faced a revenue shock of this magnitude was in 2009 during the global financial crisis, IATA Chief Economist Brian Pearce said at a media briefing in Singapore. The $63 billion figure is for a scenario where the disease is contained in current markets with over 100 cases as of March 2, following a v-shaped recovery, IATA said.

The $113 billion estimates is for a scenario with a broader spreading of the disease. This fall would translate to 11%-19% of worldwide passenger revenue loss.

IATA on Feb. 20 estimated the outbreak would cost carriers $29.3 billion in revenue, if the outbreak was largely confined to markets associated with China.