Passenger demand remained disappointingly low in October 2020

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that the recovery of passenger demand continued to be disappointingly slow in October 2020. 

Total demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) was down by 70.6 per cent when compared to October 2019. This was just a modest improvement from the 72.2 per cent year-to-year decline recorded in September 2020. Capacity was down by 59.9 per cent when compared to a year ago, and load factor fell 21.8 percentage points to 60.2 per cent.

International passenger demand in October 2020 was down by 87.8 per cent when compared to October 2019, virtually unchanged from the 88.0 per cent year-to-year decline recorded in September 2020. Capacity was 76.9 per cent below previous year levels, and load factor shrank 38.3 percentage points to 42.9 per cent.

Domestic demand drove what little recovery there was, with October 2020 domestic traffic down by 40.8 per cent when compared to 2019. This was improved from a 43.0 per cent year-to-year decline in September 2020. Capacity was 29.7 per cent below 2019 levels and the load factor dropped 13.2 percentage points to 70.4 per cent. 

IATA’s Director General and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, said: “Fresh outbreaks of COVID-19 and governments’ continued reliance on heavy-handed quarantines resulted in another catastrophic month for air travel demand. While the pace of recovery is faster in some regions than others, the overall picture for international travel is grim. This uneven recovery is more pronounced in domestic markets, with China’s domestic market having nearly recovered, while most others remain deeply depressed.”