Some airlines have seen a dip in passengers travelling outbound from the United States following travel restrictions implemented in January by the administration of President Donald Trump.
The ban, which took effect from 27 January until it was blocked by a US court ruling on 3 February, was widely reported to have affected passengers travelling into the USA.
But Peter Cerda, regional vice-president in the Americas at IATA, says the restrictions also impacted outbound air traffic.
"We have seen traffic go down slightly," Cerda tells FlightGlobal on 14 February during the Routes Americas event in Las Vegas. "[Airlines] have now seen a dip in passengers."
He says passengers travelling from the USA to the seven countries named in Trump's travel order fear those countries could respond with their own travel restrictions.
The resulting dip in traffic has affected airlines that carry passengers from the USA to the seven countries via major hubs in the Middle East, like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
"It's not very clear what those governments will do, so that has had an impact on traffic originating in the US going [overseas]," Cerda says.
Trump instituted the travel restrictions in a 27 February executive order, saying the measures were needed to protect the USA from terrorist threats.
The order banned for 90 days entry into the USA by nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
A judge on 3 February halted the ban, at least temporarily, although the Trump administration has insisted it will seek to have the restrictions reinstated.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
