An AirDo plane over Tokyo airport (illustrative image).
-
CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP
We suspected: for the air, the year was not good.
The International Air Transport Association (Iata) confirms this on Wednesday: with the coronavirus pandemic, global passenger traffic sank by 66% in 2020 compared to 2019.
Calculated in passenger-kilometer, an indicator corresponding to the transport of one person over one kilometer, traffic "has fallen by two thirds, this is the biggest shock the airline sector has ever experienced", summarized Brian Pearce, economist in charge of the organization, during a videoconference.
"Dark" outlook
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.
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 of demand for here at the end of the year.
Economy
Coronavirus: Broken prices, smaller planes, redistributed routes… How will the airline sector be able to reinvent itself?
Planet
Aeronautics: Toulouse scientists are skeptical about the green Airbus plane
Coronavirus
Airline company
Covid 19
Economy