PARIS—The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown of air traffic on European aviation has worsened in recent weeks, IATA warned, as it called for a coordinated restart of air travel through border openings and continued financial and regulatory support. 

Airlines in Europe are set to lose $23.1 billion in 2020, with passenger demand declining by more than half, putting at risk 6-7 million jobs supported by aviation there alone, IATA said June 18, adding: “An accelerated recovery of air transport in Europe is vital if the worst of these impacts is to be avoided.”

Governments should ensure a coordinated restart of air travel, opening borders and removing quarantine measures and following EASA and the European Center for Disease Control’s guidelines for operations, IATA said.

As European countries reopened borders in time for the peak summer travel season, several airlines have launched legal action against the UK government over a controversial quarantine measure that requires passengers arriving from abroad to self-isolate for 14 days or face a fine.

“Quarantines are a huge impediment to a recovery in air traffic. Our latest passenger survey shows that 78% of people in France, 76% in Germany and 83% in the UK will not travel if a quarantine is in place,” IATA VP for Europe Rafael Schvartzman said. “Therefore, governments looking to reopen their economies need an alternative, risk-based solution. The answer is a strategy that combines coordinated, internationally consistent health measures for air travel with effective national plans for managing COVID-19.” 

IATA also called for continued financial and regulatory support in the form of direct financial aid and relief from taxes and charges.

It renewed support for an extension to the 80-20 slot-rule waiver. The rule was suspended when the COVID-19 crisis hit so airlines would not be forced to operate empty or near-empty flights for fear of losing their slots.

IATA said June 16 the slot-rule waiver should be extended through the winter timetable, with many airlines only just beginning to restart their operations in June and July after the COVID-19 shutdown. Lobbying group Airports Council International Europe countered that argument, saying the extension could be financially damaging to airports.

“Europe’s economies have been brought to their knees by COVID-19, and the aviation industry has been especially hard-hit,” Schvartzman said. “Recent optimism over the opening of the Schengen borders should not obscure the critical seriousness of the situation.” 

IATA Economics’ latest assessment shows the outlook for major European nations’ aviation markets worsened between April and June, with the passenger numbers, airline revenue, number of jobs at risk and GDP impacts for the five biggest European markets—France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK—declining across every metric.