The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released the IATA World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) publication with performance figures for 2020 demonstrating the devastating effects on global air transport during that year of the COVID-19 crisis.
IATA said 1.8 billion passengers flew in 2020, a decrease of 60.2% compared to the 4.5 billion who flew in 2019, while industry-wide air travel demand (measured in revenue passenger-kilometers, or RPKs) dropped by 65.9% year-on-year. Also, international passenger demand (RPKs) decreased by 75.6% compared to the year prior, and domestic air passenger demand (RPKs) dropped by 48.8% compared to 2019.
Further, 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, IATA also added, noting that the decline in air passengers transported in 2020 was the largest recorded since global RPKs started being tracked around 1950.
“2020 was a year that we’d all like to forget. But analyzing the performance statistics for the year reveals an amazing story of perseverance. 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 totaled $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,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Looking at key 2020 airline performance figures from WATS, for passenger, IATA said 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%, IATA added.
Also, 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.
The regional rankings (based on total passengers carried on scheduled services by airlines registered in that region) showed that Asia-Pacific recorded 780.7 million passengers, a decrease of 53.4% compared to the region’s passengers in 2019. North America had 401.7 million passengers, down 60.8% over 2019, while Europe got only 389.9 million passengers, down 67.4%. over 2019. Latin America had 123.6 million passengers, down 60.6% over 2019; and Middle East, 76.8 million passengers, a decrease of 67.6% over 2019. Africa in its part got 34.3 million passengers, down 65.7% over 2019, IATA disclosed.
The top five airlines ranked by total scheduled passenger kilometers flown, were:
| 1 | American Airlines | (124 billion) |
| 2 | China Southern Airlines | (110.7 billion) |
| 3 | Delta Air Lines | (106.5 billion) |
| 4 | United Airlines | (100.2 billion) |
| 5 | China Eastern Airlines | (88.7 billion) |
- The top five domestic passenger airport-pairs were all in Asia and outperformed top international routes as domestic recovery returned faster, particularly in China:
| 1 | Jeju – Seoul Gimpo | (10.2 million, up 35.1% over 2019) |
| 2 | Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City | (5.9 million, an increase of 54.3% from 2019) |
| 3 | Shanghai-Hongqiao – Shenzhen | (3.7 million, up 43.4% from 2019) |
| 4 | Beijing-Capital – Shanghai-Hongqiao | (3.6 million, increased by 11.8% from 2019) |
| 5 | Guangzhou – Shanghai-Hongqiao | (3.5 million, up 41.2% from 2019) |
For Cargo, IATA said “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.”
IATA stated that 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.
IATA listed the top five airlines ranked by scheduled cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) flown as shown below.
| 1 | Federal Express | (19.7 billion) |
| 2 | United Parcel Service | (14.4 billion) |
| 3 | Qatar Airways | (13.7 billion) |
| 4 | Emirates | (9.6 billion) |
| 5 | Cathay Pacific Airways | (8.1 billion) |
For Airline Alliances, IATA said Star Alliance maintained its position as the largest airline alliance in 2020 with 18.7% of total scheduled traffic (in RPKs), followed by SkyTeam (16.3%) and oneworld (12.7%).