KUALA LUMPUR: Airline industry statistics have confirmed that 2020 was the worst year on record, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

       In a statement, IATA said the IATA World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) for 2020 revealed that 1.8 billion passengers flew in 2020, a decrease of 60.2% compared with 4.5 billion passengers in 2019.

       It said the figures demonstrated the devastating effects of the Covid-19 crisis on global air transport during the year.

       “Total industry passenger revenues fell by 69% to US$189bil (RM798bil) in 2020 and net losses were US$126.4bil (RM533.7bil) in total.

       The industry-wide air travel demand dropped by 65.9% year-on-year (y-o-y), while international passenger and domestic air passenger demand decreased by 75.6% and 48.8%, respectively, compared to that of 2019.

       IATA director general Willie Walsh said 66% of the world’s commercial air transport fleet was grounded as governments closed borders or imposed strict quarantines at the depth of the crisis in April 2020.

       “A million jobs disappeared and industry losses for the year totalled US$126bil (RM531.9bil),” he said.

       On 2020 airline performance, WATS figures showed that the Middle Eastern region suffered the largest proportion of loss for passenger traffic with a drop of 71.5% in revenue passenger-kilometres versus that of 2019, followed by Europe and the African region which fell 69.7% and 68.5% respectively.

       “China became the largest domestic market in 2020 for the first time on record, as air travel rebounded faster in their domestic market following their efforts to control Covid-19,” it said.

       The statistics also revealed that air freight was the bright spot in air transport for 2020, as the market adapted to keep goods moving, including vaccines, personal protective equipment and vital medical supplies. — Bernama