Domestic air travel down 70%, recovery likely to be slow: IATA

Domestic air traffic is down 70 percent globally and the recovery over the coming six months is likely to be slow due to the damage coronavirus has done to economic conditions, the industry's representative body IATA said on Tuesday.

While domestic markets will open sooner than long-haul, the damage done to consumer confidence will undermine a quick recovery, Brian Pearce, chief economist with the International Air Transport Association, told journalists on a conference call.

"The economic environment that we are expecting over the next six months is really not conducive to any substantial return to air travel for financial reasons... which is why we are expecting to see that recovery in the third quarter to be relatively modest," Pearce said.