The airline industry will never return to its pre-pandemic state, Willie Walsh, the recently-retired former CEO of International Airlines Group (IAG) said.

Walsh predicted that the expected post-crisis industry consolidation will likely come through airline failures rather than M&A activity.

Even airlines that have received state aid to help them weather the COVID-19 crisis will face challenges, with large debts that will need to be repaid, Walsh said. This comes as the pandemic brought air transport in Europe to a standstill earlier in 2020, before a gradual recovery in traffic, which is now stalled at just under half pre-pandemic levels.

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