Air transport demand records its worst year on record in 2020

The International Air Transport Association revealed passenger traffic results for 2020, which showed a decrease in demand (measured based on revenue per passenger per kilometer) by 65.9% compared to its annual rate in 2019, the largest decline in passenger traffic in the history of the aviation sector.

Future flight bookings have been declining sharply since the end of last December.

- Global passenger demand decreased by 75.6% in 2020 from the average in 2019, while operational capacity (measured by the number of available seats per kilometer) decreased by 68.1%, and the load factor decreased by 19.2 percentage points to reach 62.8%.

- Domestic demand decreased by 48.8% in 2020 compared to 2019. Operating capacity decreased by 35.7%, and load factor decreased by 17 percentage points to 66.6%.

- Total passenger traffic decreased in December 2020 by 69.7% compared to the same period of the previous year, a slight improvement from the rate of decline in November, which amounted to 70.4%.

In turn, the capacity decreased by 56.7% and the load factor by 24.6 percentage points to reach 57.5%.

Future flight bookings decreased during January 2021 by 70% compared to last year, which has put additional pressure on the financial liquidity situation of airlines, with potential impacts on the expected timing of the start of the recovery.

- The basic forecast issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) indicates an improvement in demand by 50.4% during 2021 compared to last year, which will help the sector reach a performance equivalent to 50.6% of its levels in 2019. Despite these expectations remaining unchanged, the sector faces the risk of decline Acute if the strict restrictions imposed on travel in order to confront the new Corona virus strains continue.

In such a scenario, demand could improve by only 13% compared to 2020, which is equivalent to 38% of sector levels in 2019.

The Director-General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Alexander de Juniac said: “2020 was a catastrophic year in every sense of the word. Holidays are the end of the year as a result of tightening travel restrictions imposed to counter the spread of Covid-19 disease and new virus mutations.

 Global passenger markets

Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region recorded a decrease in passenger traffic by 80.3% in 2020 compared to 2019, the largest decrease among all regions.

This percentage reached 94.7% in December due to the tightening of closure measures, with a slight change from the rate of decline in November, which reached 95%.

Last year, the total capacity decreased by 74.1% compared to 2019, and the load factor decreased by 19.5 percentage points to reach 61.4%.

European airlines witnessed a decrease in passenger traffic by 73.7% in 2020 compared to 2019. Operating capacity decreased by 66.3% and the load factor decreased by 18.8 percentage points to 66.8%.

Passenger traffic decreased by 87% in November 2020 compared to 2019, improving to 82.3% in December due to increased activity in the period leading up to the holiday season, which stopped by the end of the month.

Airlines in the Middle East recorded a decrease in annual passenger demand by 72.9% in 2020 compared to 2019. Operating capacity decreased by 63.9%, and the load factor decreased by 18.9 percentage points to 57.3%.

Passenger traffic decreased by 86.1% in November 2020 compared to the previous year, only to recover and improve in December, with a decrease of 82.6% year-on-year.

North American airlines saw overall passenger traffic decline 75.4% in 2020 compared to 2019.

Capacity decreased by 65.5%, while load factor decreased by 23.9 percentage points to 60.1%.

Passenger traffic decreased by 82.8% in November 2020 compared to the previous year, followed by an improvement in December, which reached 79.6% year-on-year as a result of the increase in travel traffic during the holiday season.

Latin American airlines recorded a decrease in total passenger traffic in 2020 by 71.8% compared to the previous year, thus achieving the second best regional performance after Africa.

Operating capacity decreased by 67.7% and load factor decreased by 10.4 percentage points to 72.4%, the highest rate among all regions.

Passenger traffic also decreased by 76.2% in December 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year, a slight improvement over the rate of decline in November, which amounted to 78.7%.

Finally, airlines in Africa recorded a decrease in passenger traffic last year by 69.8% compared to 2019, which is the best performance among regions worldwide.

Operating capacity decreased by 61.5%, while load factor decreased by 15.4 percentage points to 55.9%, which is the lowest rate among different regions.

Passenger traffic also decreased by 68.8% in December 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year, a marked improvement from the rate of decline in November, which reached 75.8%.

Regional airlines have benefited from less severe travel restrictions on global travel compared to other regions.

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