Call  for government aid to floundering  regional airlines

The International Air Transport Association ( IATA ) made an “urgent” call to the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean to take specific measures to help aviation, an industry that has been paralyzed for more than three months and runs the risk of “collapse”.

Pedro Heilbron  who heads Copa Airlines which has over 100 planes parked at Tocumen International Airport, dubbed the “hub of the Americas,    estimates that it will take three years for the aviation industry to recover from the pandemic bur has said the company will not seek a government bailout.

“No sector has the liquidity to stay afloat during a four or five-month shutdown. We recognize the efforts made by the authorities in the fight against this pandemic, and we understand what countries are facing, but air transport is essential for our region and cannot be allowed to disappear, “said Peter Cerda, regional vice president for IATA.

It is not the first time that IATA has warned of the devastating  consequences of having an  industry paralyzed for so long, as a result of the  Covid-19 pandemic

Now, through a statement issued this Monday, June 15 it said that the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean should continue to be supportive of aviation, an industry that before Covid-19 contributed $167 billion to the regional economy and generated 7.2 million jobs throughout the region.

“The forecasts show a drop of at least $77 billionsin air transport and its contribution to gross domestic product, with more than 3.5 million jobs at risk,” said Cerda.

Cerda specifically referred to Panama, where air transport created almost a quarter of a million jobs, and its main terminal, Tocumen airport, offering connections to almost 90 international destinations before the pandemic.

“It is worrying that the government has so far failed to take any firm steps to provide tangible support to the industry,” he stressed.