Impact of the shutdown
2020 was the year of the greatest disruption in the history of civil air travel. As the Covid-19 pandemic shook the world and countries imposed lockdowns and travel bans, international passenger traffic plunged by 94.4% compared to April 2019 and 64% of the global fleet was grounded.
There had been reductions in passenger traffic caused by shocks in the past, but never a near total shutdown of the global system. This had a devastating impact on aviation and its related economic benefits.
- Airlines lost $372 billion in gross passenger operating revenues in 2020 alone
- Airports lost $72.7 billion (43%), in the same year
- Aircraft manufacturers incurred $12 billion in losses
- By July 2022, more than 2.3 million jobs had been lost across airlines, airports and civil aerospace groups — a 21% reduction in jobs compared with pre-pandemic levels.
For more information, see the Covid-19 impact fact sheet.
Providing vital aid
Air transport played an important role in supporting the fight against Covid-19 by transporting people and goods:
- 39,200 special flights by airlines repatriated over 5.4 million citizens after borders closed in March 2020
- Around 46,600 special cargo flights transported some 1.5 million tonnes of cargo to areas in need during the height of the pandemic. This included medical and personal protective equipment.
Later on, air transport played a crucial role not just in expediting the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines around the globe, but also in transporting critical equipment such as ultra-cold chain freezers, syringes and safety boxes. It was estimated that vaccinating the world would require up to 15,000 flights between 2021 and 2023 to transport almost 15 million cooling boxes.