The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has confirmed what the industry has known for some time that 2020 was the worst year for the industry on record. IATA World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) shows performance figures for 2020 that demonstrate in hard numbers the devastating effects on global air transport during that year of the COVID-19 crisis:
Only 1.8 billion passengers flew in 2020, a decrease of 60.2% compared to the 4.5 billion who flew in 2019. Industry-wide air travel demand (measured in revenue passenger-kilometers, or RPKs) dropped by 65.9% year-on-year. International passenger demand (RPKs) decreased by 75.6% compared to the year prior, while domestic air passenger demand (RPKs) dropped by 48.8%. The decline in air passengers transported in 2020 was the largest recorded since global RPKs started being tracked around 1950.
Air connectivity declined by more than half in 2020 with the number of routes connecting airports falling dramatically at the outset of the crisis and was down more than 60% year-on-year in April 2020. Total industry passenger revenues fell by 69% to $189 billion in 2020, and net losses were $126.4 billion in total.
“2020 was a year that we’d all like to forget. But analysing the performance statistics for the year reveals an amazing story of perseverance,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General. “At the depth of the crisis in April 2020, 66% of the world’s commercial air transport fleet was grounded as governments closed borders or imposed strict quarantines. A million jobs disappeared. And industry losses for the year totalled $126 billion. Many governments recognized aviation’s critical contributions and provided financial lifelines and other forms of support. But it was the rapid actions by airlines and the commitment of our people that saw the airline industry through the most difficult year in its history.”
Other key 2020 airline performance figures from WATS show that systemwide, airlines carried 1.8 billion passengers on scheduled services, a decrease of 60.2% over 2019. On average, there was a $71.7 loss incurred per passenger in 2020, corresponding to net losses of $126.4 billion in total.
Measured in ASKs (available seat kilometers), global airline capacity plummeted by 56.7%, with international capacity being hit the hardest with a reduction of 68.3%.
Systemwide passenger load factor dropped to 65.1% in 2020, compared to 82.5% the year prior
The Middle East region suffered the largest proportion of loss for passenger traffic with a drop of 71.5% in RPKs versus 2019, followed by Europe (-69.7%) and the Africa region (-68.5%).
China became the largest domestic market in 2020 for the first time on record, as air travel rebounded faster in their domestic market following their efforts to control COVID-19.
Air freight was the bright spot in air transport for 2020, as the market adapted to keep goods moving—including vaccines, personal protective equipment (PPE) and vital medical supplies—despite the massive drop in capacity from the bellies of passenger aircraft. Industry-wide available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs) fell 21.4% year-on-year in 2020. This led to a capacity crunch, with the industry-wide cargo load factor up 7.0 percentage points to 53.8%. This is the highest value in the IATA series started in 1990.
At the end of the year, industry-wide cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) had returned close to pre-crisis values. However, the yearly decline in cargo demand (CTKs) was still the largest since the Global Financial Crisis in 2009, at a sizeable 9.7% year-on-year in 2020.