The International Air Transport Association (IATA) projects that the commercial airline industry's full year 2020 traffic will be down 66% year-on-year, with December demand seen to be down 68%.

IATA said industry revenues in 2021 are also expected to be down 46% compared to the 2019 figure of US$838 billion.

The association's previous analysis was for 2021 revenues to be down around 29% compared to 2019, which was earlier based on expectations for a demand recovery commencing in the fourth quarter of the year.

Recovery has been delayed, however, owing to new COVID-19 outbreaks worldwide, and government-mandated travel restrictions including border closings and quarantine measures.