Air traffic volume to and from Paris could take up to seven years to recover from the coronavirus impact, the CEO of the French capital's airports said Monday.

Augustin de Romanet, head of airport operator ADP, said in a statement that the coronavirus had inflicted the worst downturn on the air traffic "in 50 years" and that a recovery to pre-COVID levels would be very progressive.

"A return to the traffic level of 2019 in Paris is expected between 2024 and 2027," he said.

A return to normal is maybe seven years away
A return to normal is maybe seven years away POOL / Ian LANGSDON

The forecast came alongside ADP results which showed a net loss of 543 million euros ($638 million) for the first half, against a 250-million-euro net profit a year earlier.

Paris airport traffic dived by more than 62 percent in that period.

There was practically no traffic at all in April and May, and while June and July saw a recovery it was "slow", de Romanet said.

Coronavirus