International passenger totals fell dramatically in 2020 to 1.8 billion, down 60 percent from 4.5 billion the previous year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) says.
In an analysis of the pandemic’s economic impact on the aviation industry, released last Friday (Jan. 15), ICAO said that the downturn left passenger numbers at a level equivalent to those of 2003.
Seat capacity also fell in 2020, down 50 percent from 2019 levels, ICAO said.
The analysis showed that the pandemic resulted in airline financial losses of $370 billion, airport losses of $115 billion and air navigation services provider losses of $13 billion.
The document noted that the decline in demand for air travel began in a few countries in January 2020, but by March, “air transport activitie…
