Most of the global travellers should buy hefty air ticket prices, if the airline carriers are expected to maintain social distancing measures on flights to reduce chances of COVID-19 infection, with airlines warning that recovery from this global pandemic could be severely jeopardised if middle seats are left empty. Brian Pearce, chief economist said on behalf of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that the international and domestic airfares could soar by 54 per cent for travellers in Asia-Pacific Region, the highest worldwide, as airlines would be operating at nearly 40 per cent lower capacity if the middle seats were eliminated. It is also said that by removing the middle seats, the cost of providing services is higher, eventually airlines will have to reflect that in fares to have viable operations.