US' Europe travel ban to mount pressure on airlines

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Thursday that the U.S.' European travel ban due to the coronavirus crisis would cause financial pressure to mount on airlines.

Airlines were already struggling with the severe impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis on their business said Geneva-based IATA in a statement.

U.S. President Donald Trump late on Wednesday announced that the country would restrict all travel from Europe except the U.K. to contain the new coronavirus.

"This will create enormous cash-flow pressures for airlines," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's director general and CEO, in a statement.

"We have already seen Flybe go under. And this latest blow could push others in the same direction. Airlines will need emergency measures to get through this crisis," he said.

Governments, he said, should be looking at all possible means to assist the industry through these extreme circumstances.

He said extending lines of credit, reducing infrastructure costs, lightening the tax burden are all measures that governments would need to explore.

"Air transport is vital, but without a lifeline from governments, we will have a sectoral financial crisis piled on top of the public health emergency," said de Juniac.

IATA said that it had previously estimated that the coronavirus crisis could wipe out some $113 billion of revenue. That scenario did not include such sweeping measures as the U.S. and other governments including Israel, Kuwait, and Spain have since put in place.

"These are extraordinary times, and governments are taking unprecedented measures," said de Juniac.

He said that governments must also recognize that airlines -- employing some 2.7 million people -- are under extreme financial and operational pressures and needed support.