The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced full-year global passenger traffic results for 2020 showing that demand (revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) fell by 65.9 per cent compared to the full year of 2019, by far the sharpest traffic decline in aviation history. 

“Last year was a catastrophe. There is no other way to describe it. What recovery there was over the Northern hemisphere summer season stalled in autumn.

“The situation turned dramatically worse over the year-end holiday season, as more severe travel restrictions were imposed in the face of new outbreaks and new strains of COVID-19,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General.

African airlines’traffic fell 69.8 per cent last year compared to 2019, which was the best performance among regions. Capacity dropped 61.5 per cent, and load factor sank 15.4 percentage points to 55.9 per cent, the lowest among regions. 

Demand for December was 68.8 per cent below the year-ago period, well ahead of a 75.8 per cent decline in November. Carriers in the region have benefitted from “somewhat less severe” international travel restrictions compared to the rest of the world.

European carriers saw a 73.7 per cent traffic decline in 2020 versus 2019. Capacity fell 66.3 per cent, and load factor decreased by 18.8 percentage points to 66.8 per cent. For December, traffic slid 82.3 per cent compared to December 2019, an upturn over the 87 per cent year-to-year decline in November reflecting pre-holiday momentum that was reversed toward the end of the month.

Middle Eastern airlines’ annual passenger demand in 2020 was 72.9 per cent below 2019. Annual capacity fell 63.9 per cent, and load factor plummeted 18.9 percentage points to 57.3 per cent. December’s traffic was down 82.6% compared to December 2019, which improved from an 86.1 per cent drop in November.

North American airlines’ full-year traffic fell 75.4 per cent compared to 2019. Capacity dropped 65.5 per cent, and load factor sank 23.9 percentage points to 60.1 per cent. December demand was down 79.6 per cent compared to the same month a year ago, a pick-up over an 82.8 per cent drop in November reflecting a holiday surge.