APEX (the Airline Passenger Experience Association), in alignment with ‘leading airlines and associations’, is requesting a quarter of a trillion dollars (US$250 billion) of global government support for the airline industry in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus).
Fully backing A4A’s proposal for US$50 billion in US airline support alongside US$150 billion more as proposed by IATA, APEX is emphasising that both global airlines and key airline suppliers will need support to weather the COVID-19 crisis. APEX proposes that four out of every five dollars of global government support should go directly to airlines, with the remaining one dollar held for airline suppliers. For the US alone, an additional US$12.5 billion will be required by airline suppliers to successfully weather the COVID-19 crisis, according to APEX.
“Our world must immediately respond to protect its global airline industry with a quarter-trillion dollars in retroactively rebated taxes and emergency loans to its airlines and suppliers,” stated APEX CEO, Dr Joe Leader. “Airlines need this support for safety, security, and survival against the unprecedented passenger shutdown triggered by COVID-19.”
To protect airlines, APEX recommendsthat the following actions be taken by governments and organisations globally:
US$250 billion in global airline industry support against COVID-19
- Immediate tax rebates by global governments of previously paid airline industry taxes in the form of grants totalling US$125 billion
- Immediately accessible no-interest medium and long-term loans to provide medium and long-term liquidity totalling US$125 billion
- World Bank should provide needed liquidity in the form of matching grants and ample loans to governments in need
- Amounts allocated to each country should be based approximately on country share of global GDP, calculated alongside aviation market share appropriately
APEX’s IFSA (International Flight Services Association) Government Affairs team will work alongside A4A in Washington, A4E in Brussels, and IATA elsewhere, where appropriate, in full support of their efforts.
