Middle Eastern airlines Emirates and Etihad both expect the coronavirus epidemic to be ended by next year, according to airline executives speaking at an industry conference on Thursday.

Emirates President Tim Clark said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would delay the projected recovery to 2019 levels of traffic until the middle of next year, adding that without war in Europe he had thought the recovery was possible by the end of this year.

Etihad Group Chief Executive Tony Douglas told the CAPA Centre for Aviation conference he expected the industry to recover to 2019 levels by “mid-to-end 2023.”