Unlike private jets, commercial planes around the world are forced to park more in hangars than to fly as usual. The reason is clear, very few people are traveling by plane because of the pandemic.
In fact, based on data from the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) released on Wednesday (3/2), 2020 is called the worst year for the commercial aviation industry because the number of passengers has dropped by 65.9% compared to 2019.
The number of passengers on international routes during the year was recorded at 75.6% below the previous year’s demand. Meanwhile, demand for passengers on domestic routes fell 48.8% over the previous year.
IATA did not mention the number of passengers in detail, but according to data from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) the number of aircraft passengers in 2020 was 1.8 billion people, 60% lower than 2019 which reached 4.5 billion people.
Will such conditions end soon? Apparently not. IATA said, although the number of airplane passengers in December 2020 was recorded at 69.7% compared to the same month in 2019, slightly up from a contraction of 70.4% in November, bookings in January 2021 remain low.
Airline ticket bookings during January this year, including for future flights, actually fell by 70% compared to the same period last year. The data shows that the commercial aviation industry still needs a long time to recover.
In fact, Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO of IATA, in his official statement on Wednesday (3/2), said, “Last year was a disaster. There is no other way to describe it. “
This year, continued Juniac, IATA estimates that the demand for the commercial aviation market is only 50.6% of the 2019 realization. However, that view could change to a worse performance when travel restrictions are tightened in response to the still outbreak.
