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European Aviation’s Mounting Misery in Four Charts

European Aviation’s Mounting Misery in Four Charts

European airlines are in a worse situation than previously estimated as the coronavirus crisis depresses travel markets, according to economists at the International Air Transport Association.

The trade group’s projections issued last week indicate a deteriorating picture across a range of parameters, with the U.K. suffering the steepest passenger shortfall and Spain taking the biggest hit to the wider economy.

Europe’s five leading aviation markets will together lose 150 million more travelers this year than forecast at the start of lockdowns in March:

European Aviation’s Mounting Misery in Four Charts

The slump in revenue will steepen accordingly, with the decline versus 2019 sales approaching $30 billion in the U.K., the world’s third-largest aviation market after the U.S. and China, compared with an original estimate of just over $20 billion:

European Aviation’s Mounting Misery in Four Charts

Turn to job losses, though, and Spain’s huge tourism industry means it’s set to suffer most. Close to 1 million people in posts directly reliant on aviation may find themselves out of work there, 233,000 more than first envisioned. In the U.K., the job-loss estimate increased by 331,000:

European Aviation’s Mounting Misery in Four Charts

The hit to gross domestic product is now forecast to total $245 billion across the six countries worst affected. That’s $70 billion more than originally estimated and bigger than the entire economy of Portugal or Greece.

European Aviation’s Mounting Misery in Four Charts

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.