IATA: 'Chinese airlines have probably seen a return to profitability already'

IATA chief economist Brian Pearce, speaking at CAPA Live January 2021, stated (13-Jan-2021) "airlines based in China have already seen a full recovery of domestic air travel, and in fact Chinese airlines have probably seen a return to profitability already", as domestic travel is the main market for airlines based in China. Mr Pearce noted similar recovery has not been the case for airlines based in other regions with large domestic markets, such as the US, while for airlines reliant upon international air travel "we've really not seen any substantial recovery so far".