Meanwhile, domestic air travel across the globe in January stood 47.4 percent below the figures recorded in the same month of 2020.
The association noted that China registered a large decrease in domestic air traffic in January, while the number of people who traveled domestically increased modestly in the United States.
The IATA announced on March 3, that it predicts 2021 air traffic levels will reach 50 percent of 2019 levels but warned that even that could be a challenge.
In IATA's worst-case scenario, 2021 travel by air will amount to 38 percent of pre-coronavirus pandemic levels seen in 2019, rising only 13 percent from 2020.
The organization added that further travel restrictions and new Covid-19 variants pose downside risks to its forecast. Additionally, IATA called on governments to help airlines deal with the crisis.
"I don’t think anyone sees a world free of Covid-19 anytime soon… even within this year," IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac stated.