IATA Statistics Confirm 2020 was Aviation’s Worst Year on Record

Arun Sivasankaran - : Aug 5, 2021 - : 7:56 am

Figures provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have proved what the industry knew all along: No year has been as bad for the aviation industry as 2020 since global revenue passenger-kilometers (RPKs) started being tracked around 1950. According...

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Figures provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have proved what the industry knew all along: No year has been as bad for the aviation industry as 2020 since global revenue passenger-kilometers (RPKs) started being tracked around 1950.

According to the IATA World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) publication, 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 while international passenger demand (RPKs) decreased by 75.6% compared to the year prior.

Air freight was the bright spot in air transport for 2020 with industry-wide cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) returning 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 9.7% year-on-year in 2020.

Domestic air passenger demand (RPKs) dropped by 48.8% compared to 2019 while air connectivity declined by more than half last year with the number of routes connecting airports falling dramatically because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Total industry passenger revenues fell by 69% to $189 billion in 2020, and total net losses were $126.4 billion.

“2020 was a year that we’d all like to forget...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. 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,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

Airlines carried 1.8 billion passengers on scheduled services, a decrease of 60.2% over 2019. 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%. 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, as air travel rebounded faster in their domestic market following their efforts to control COVID-19.

The Asia-Pacific had 780.7 million passengers in 2020, a decrease of 53.4% compared to the region's passengers the previous year. North America had 401.7 million passengers, down 60.8% over 2019 while Europe had 389.9 million passengers, down 67.4% over 2019. Latin America: registered 123.6 million passengers, down 60.6% over 2019 while the Middle East, with 8 million passengers, saw a decrease of 67.6% over 2019. Africa had 34.3 million passengers, down 65.7% over the previous year.

Industry-wide available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs) fell 21.4% year-on-year in 2020, leading to a capacity crunch. The industry-wide cargo load factor was up 7.0 percentage points to 53.8%. By the end of the year, industry-wide cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) had returned close to pre-crisis values.

The top five airlines ranked by scheduled cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) flown were: Federal Express (19.7 billion), United Parcel Service (14.4 billion), Qatar Airways (13.7 billion) , Emirates (9.6 billion), and Cathay Pacific Airways (8.1 billion).

Willie-walsh / International-air-transport-association-iata / Iata-world-air-transport-statistics-wats / Covid-19 /

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