Despite being the “worst year ever” for global air transport, 2020 was also a year of “amazing perseverance” by the airline industry in the face of the devastating effects of the COVID-19 crisis, according to IATA’s director general.

“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,” says Willie Walsh, noting that a million jobs disappeared and industry losses for the year totalled US$126 billion.

But IATA’s director general added, “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… 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.”

Detailed in the IATA World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) publication, the International Air Transport Association reported the following grim figures:

• 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

• International passenger demand (RPKs) decreased by 75.6% compared to the year prior

• Domestic air passenger demand (RPKs) dropped by 48.8% compared to 2019

• 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 US$189 billion in 2020, and net losses were $126.4 billion in total

• The decline in air passengers transported in 2020 was the largest recorded since global RPKs started being tracked around 1950.