by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:45 AM ET, Thu November 5, 2020
Despite positive signs in the aviation industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) revealed that passenger demand in September was still down.
According to IATA's September Air Passenger Market Analysis, total demand measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) was down 72.8 percent in September compared to the same month in 2019.
While September's totals were up from the 75.2 percent year-to-year decline recorded in August, capacity was down 63 percent compared to a year ago and load factor fell 21.8 percent to 60.1 percent.
"We have hit a wall in the industry's recovery," IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac said. "A resurgence in COVID-19 outbreaks--particularly in Europe and the US--combined with governments' reliance on the blunt instrument of quarantine in the absence of globally aligned testing regimes, has halted momentum toward re-opening borders to travel."
"Although domestic markets are doing better, this is primarily owing to improvements in China and Russia," de Juniac continued. "And domestic traffic represents just a bit more than a third of total traffic, so it is not enough to sustain a general recovery."
Domestic flights were down 43.3 percent compared to the previous year, improved from a 50.7 percent decline in August. Capacity fell 33.3 percent from 2019 and the load factor dropped 12.4 percent to 69.9 percent.
On the other hand, international passenger demand was down 88.8 percent compared to September 2019, a slight increase over the 88.5 percent decline recorded in August.
As for international passenger markets in September compared to the previous year, European carriers saw demand drop by 82.5 percent, Asia-Pacific drop by 95.8 percent, Middle Eastern drop by 90.2 percent, North American drop by 82.5 percent, Latin American drop by 92.2 percent and African drop by 88.5 percent.
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