The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said African air travel fell by 90 per cent in August, with a forecasted 66% drop in global travels by 2020 compared to 2019.

The previous estimate was for a 63% decline.

In its report on Tuesday, it said the 90.1% drop in African air travels was better than the 94.6% recorded in July.

The capacity of African airlines contracted 78.4%, and load factor fell 41 percentage points to 34.6%, which was the lowest among regions.

But worldwide, the association representing some 290 airlines carrying over 80 percent of global traffic, said August passenger demand continued to be hugely depressed against normal levels, with revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) down 75.3% compared to August 2019.

This was only slightly improved compared to the 79.5% annual contraction in July.

IATA's Director General, Alexandre de Juniac, said, "August's disastrous traffic performance puts a cap on the industry's worst-ever summer season.

"International demand recovery is virtually non-existent and domestic markets in Australia and Japan actually regressed in the face of new outbreaks and travel restrictions.

"A few months ago, we thought that a full-year fall in demand of -63% compared to 2019 was as bad as it could get.

"With the dismal peak summer travel period behind us, we have revised our expectations downward to -66%."