Global airline passenger traffic collapsed by 66% in 2020 compared to 2019, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"This is the biggest shock the airline industry has ever experienced," said the chief economist of the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
Global passenger traffic carried by airlines collapsed by 66% in 2020 compared to 2019, an unprecedented development under the influence of the pandemic, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) announced on Wednesday.
Calculated in passenger-kilometer, an indicator corresponding to the transport of one person over a kilometer, traffic "has fallen by two thirds, this is the biggest shock the airline industry has ever experienced", summarized Brian Pearce, economist in charge of the organization, during a videoconference.
Reflecting the border closures and other restrictions decided to try to control the pandemic, domestic links have resisted better (-48.8%) than international traffic (-75.6%), according to the Iata.
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Traffic in April fell to 5% of its normal level, before picking up again during the summer.
And in December 2020, the fall in passenger traffic was still 70%, pulling the average for the year down.
The Iata, which brings together 190 airlines worldwide, also warned that the prospects for a recovery in 2021 were "clouded" by the emergence of new variants of Covid-19, without formally revising downwards his forecast for the year.
"We are entering 2021, which we still expect to be a year of recovery, from a very low point," said Brian Pearce, while expressing hope that the vaccine rollout will spark a resumption in demand for here at the end of the year.