A fall "
85% of international air traffic and 60% of domestic
", invited this morning by BFM Business, Alexandre de Juniac, general manager of the International Transport Association, wished to recall in the preamble the very difficult situation, in which is the airline sector right now.
Yet the former president of Air France-KLM is confident in the future.
Read also: Covid-19: tourism collapses in Île-de-France
An even more optimistic opinion for Jean-François Rial, president of Voyageurs du Monde and president of the Paris Tourist Office, who does not say he is "
not worried about the return of tourists, who according to him, should come back alone
", on BFM Business, once the pandemic has passed.
He believes that between the accelerating vaccination and the natural immunity that has been built over the months, the end of the tunnel is getting closer.
"In
2022 the number of tourists in Paris will be equal to that of 2019
", he wants to believe.
On the side of the director of IATA we are more measured with a return planned for 2024.
Jean-François Rial says he does not believe either in the hypothesis of a lack of accommodation following the closure of many establishments, affected by the collapse of tourism: "
If hotels close others will open,
" says he does.
The two leaders agree on the fact that the tourist trip will resume much more quickly than that of business: "
Between 12 and 18 months more
" according to Alexandre de Juniac.
He is not worried about a change in working method likely to call into question the use of the plane by this clientele.
To read also: The automobile, the air and the rail are hit hard by the health crisis
To speed up the return to normal, the two support the vaccination passport presented by Thierry Breton: "
we are fervent supporters
" even pushes the future ex-director of IATA, who passes the hand at the end of the month.
More generally, he does not think that this crisis permanently calls into question the functioning of the aviation sector until then.
Long-haul routes, admittedly currently blocked, will resume service and hubs, these huge global airports, should become attractive again.
