International travel may not resume back to normal for another three years says top travel boss 

Australian holidaymakers may be waiting longer for their next trip as the top travel boss has warned that international travel could take at least three years before it returns to normal. 

The travel industry has been brought to a crashing halt as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which saw Australia close its borders to all non-residents and non-Australian citizens on March 19.

Alexandre de Juniac, chief executive of the International Air Transport Association, had hoped the industry could bounce back from the lockdowns but he now believes recovery will take far longer.

While speaking to the ABC News Breakfast, he warned the industry won’t fully recover until 2023.

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‘What we have planned is to restart the industry, first by reopening domestic markets, then regional continental markets, such as Asia-Pacific, or Europe, or North America.

‘At the end of 2020, the traffic should be between 50 to 55 per cent of the same level that was in place in 2019.

‘So, we would lose something like half the traffic for the 2020.’

Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy has also ruled out international travel for the foreseeable future as there is ‘no clear roadmap’ to reopening the nation’s borders. 

He told a Senate inquiry into the government’s response to COVID-19 on Wednesday that border closures remained essential to defeating the pandemic.

‘I can’t see, I have no vision at the moment on the current international scene where international border measures of some very strong vigour won’t be necessary,’ he said.

‘There is no clear roadmap out of this.’

Professor Murphy said interstate and territory borders would be reopened long before overseas travel, noting cases were still being imported weekly through returned travellers who must serve mandatory quarantine periods.

More to come