JFK CHAMBER DONATES TO THE INN. The Inn's Jason Tessler accepts winter clothing donation from the JFK International Airport Chamber of Commerce represented by Board members
Joe Clabby, Al DePhillips, and Clorinda Antonucci. Photo by Jeff Yapalater
Air traffic plummets in 2020, worst
year in aviation history
The International Air
Transport Association (IATA)
announced full-year global
passenger traffic results for
2020 showing that demand
(revenue passenger kilometers
or RPKs) fell by 65.9%
compared to the full year of
2019, by far the sharpest traffic
decline in aviation history.
Furthermore, forward bookings
have been falling sharply
since late December.
• International passenger
demand in 2020 was 75.6%
below 2019 levels. Capacity,
(measured in available seat
kilometers or ASKs) declined
68.1% and load factor fell 19.2
percentage points to 62.8%.
• Domestic demand in
2020 was down 48.8% compared
to 2019. Capacity contracted
by 35.7% and load
factor dropped 17 percentage
points to 66.6%.
• December 2020 total
traffic was 69.7% below the
same month in 2019, little improved
AIRPORT V 8 OICE, FEBRUARY 2021
from the 70.4% contraction
in November. Capacity
was down 56.7% and load
factor fell 24.6 percentage
points to 57.5%.
• Bookings for future
travel made in January 2021
were down 70% compared to
a year-ago, putting further
pressure on airline cash positions
and potentially impacting
the timing of the expected
recovery.
• IATA’s baseline forecast
for 2021 is for a 50.4% improvement
on 2020 demand
that would bring the industry
to 50.6% of 2019 levels.
While this view remains unchanged,
there is a severe
downside risk if more severe
travel restrictions in response
to new variants persist.
Should such a scenario
materialize, demand improvement
could be limited
to just 13% over 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 over the Northern
hemisphere summer season
stalled in autumn and 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 and CEO.