The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the highly-anticipated coronavirus vaccine is expected to be deployed in the second half of next year. 

In a statement as part of its forecast released on November 27, the airline association said there will still be vaccine production and distribution challenges and recovery of air travel demand will "take time and be uneven" between emerging and developed markets.

IATA also anticipates airline cash burn until 2022, projecting a further US$75 billion of cash to be burned between the fourth quarter of 2020 to mid-2021.

Meanwhile, it said that the availability of the vaccine will allow travel demand to rebound only in the second half of 2021. Nonetheless, IATA said, "there is a possibility of turning cash positive at an aggregate level only in 4Q2021."

The airline organization also said government support or progress on the use of testing to accelerate market opening will be "critical" for the survival of airlines in many regions over the next six to nine months.