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 the year of the COVID-19 crisis.
Just 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 decreased by 75.6% compared to the year prior, and domestic air passenger demand dropped by 48.8% compared to 2019. The decline in air passengers transported in 2020 was the largest recorded since global RPKs started being tracked around 1950.