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A recent report concluded that more than two decades of growth in airline passenger traffic had been wiped out in 2020.
“The pandemic and its aftermath have wiped out 21 years of growth in global passenger traffic in a matter of months, bringing traffic this year back to levels last seen in 1999,” the travel data and analytics company said. Cirium.
“Compared to the previous year, it is estimated that passenger traffic will decrease by 67% in 2020,” the company said in a press release.
Only 2.9 trillion kilometers of global passenger revenue (RPK) were recorded in 2020, up from 8.7 trillion kilometers in 2019. RPKs are used as a measure of air traffic, CNBC reported.
The aviation industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, as countries close their borders in an effort to stem the spread of the disease.
According to Cirium data, airlines operated 16.8 million flights from January 1 to December 20, 2020, down from 33.2 million flights during the same period in 2019.
More than 40 airlines have suspended or completely halted operations, and experts expect more companies to fail in 2021, according to Cirium.
The Asia-Pacific and North America region has been “the fastest to establish itself on the long road to recovery,” according to Cirium’s Airline Insights Review 2020.
The busiest airports
This trend was reflected in Cirium’s list of the world’s busiest airports, dominated by airports in the United States and China.
David White, vice president of strategy at Cirium, confirmed that major cities such as New York, Beijing and Shanghai were absent from the list, he told CNBC.
International flights fell by more than two-thirds compared to 2019, while domestic travel fell by 40%.
Cirium expects passenger demand for air travel not to pick up until 2024 or 2025, with domestic and leisure travel showing the first signs of recovery.
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