Air travel plummets 66% in 2020, the largest drop in aviation history.
Air travel demand plummeted 65.9% in 2020 compared to 2019, marking the largest decline in passenger traffic in aviation history, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
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The largest decline was recorded in international passenger demand, which was 75.6% lower in 2020 than 2019 levels, while capacity, (measured in available seat-kilometers) declined 68.1% and load factor fell 19.2 percentage points to 62.8%, EuropaPress reviewed.
Meanwhile, domestic demand in 2020 was down 48.8% compared to 2019, while capacity contracted 35.7% and load factor fell 17 percentage points to 66.6%.
Total traffic in December 2020 was 69.7% lower than in the same month of 2019, little improving on November’s 70.4% contraction.
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As for bookings for future travel made in January 2021, they were down 70% year-over-year, putting further pressure on airlines and “potentially” impacting the timing of the expected recovery.
IATA’s baseline forecast for 2021 is for a 50.4% improvement over 2020 demand, which would put the industry at 50.6% of 2019 levels.
While this view holds, there is a serious downside risk if tighter travel restrictions persist in response to new variants. Should such a scenario materialize, demand improvement could be limited to just 13% above 2020 levels, leaving the industry at 38% of 2019 levels.
“Last year was a catastrophe. There is no other way to describe it. What recovery there was during the northern hemisphere summer season stalled in the fall and the situation worsened dramatically during the year-end vacation season as tighter travel restrictions were imposed in the face of new outbreaks and new strains of Covid-19,” explained IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac.
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