| October 2020 (% year-on-year) |
World share1 |
RPK |
ASK |
PLF (%-pt)2 |
PLF (level)3 |
| Total Market |
100.0% |
-70.6% |
-59.9% |
-21.8% |
60.2% |
| Africa |
2.1% |
-76.3% |
-65.6% |
-21.8% |
48.2% |
| Asia Pacific |
34.6% |
-61.6% |
-54.5% |
-12.7% |
68.7% |
| Europe |
26.8% |
-77.6% |
-65.1% |
-30.7% |
55.2% |
| Latin America |
5.1% |
-68.0% |
-63.9% |
-9.4% |
72.1% |
| Middle East |
9.1% |
-85.5% |
-72.4% |
-34.7% |
38.7% |
| North America |
22.3% |
-70.1% |
-55.1% |
-27.9% |
55.8% |
|
| 1% of industry RPKs in 2019 2Year-on-year change in load factor 3Load Factor Level |
 International Passenger Markets
- Asia-Pacific airlines’ October traffic collapsed 95.6% compared to the year-ago period, which was unchanged from September. The region continued to suffer from the steepest traffic declines. Capacity plummeted 88.5% and load factor sagged 49.4 percentage points to 30.3%, the lowest among regions.
- European carriers’ October demand sank 83.0% versus a year ago, worsened from an 81.2% decline in September. For a second consecutive month, Europe was the only region to see a deterioration in traffic. Capacity contracted 70.4% and load factor fell by 36.7 percentage points to 49.5%.
- Middle Eastern airlines saw an 86.7% traffic drop for October, improved from an 89.3% demand drop in September. Capacity dived 73.6%, and load factor declined 36.6 percentage points to 37.0%.
- North American carriers’ traffic tumbled 88.2% in October, a slight improvement from a 91.0% decline in September. Capacity plunged 73.1%, and load factor dropped 46.2 percentage points to 36.2%.
- Latin American airlines experienced an 86.0% demand drop in October, compared to the same month last year. The region showed the greatest improvement on September when year-on-year demand was down 92.3%. October capacity was 80.3% down and load factor dropped 23.5 percentage points to 57.7%, which was highest among the regions.
- African airlines’ traffic sank 78.6% in October, improved from an 84.9% drop in September and the best performance among the regions. Capacity contracted 67.5%, and load factor fell 23.8 percentage points to 45.5%.
|
Domestic Passenger Markets
|
| October 2020 (% year-on-year) |
World share1 |
RPK |
ASK |
PLF (%-pt)2 |
PLF (level)3 |
| Domestic |
36.2% |
-40.8% |
-29.7% |
-13.2% |
70.4% |
| Australia |
0.8% |
-86.3% |
-80.3% |
-25.7% |
58.0% |
| Brazil |
1.1% |
-44.5% |
-41.7% |
-4.1% |
79.9% |
| China P.R. |
9.8% |
-1.4% |
7.6% |
-7.1% |
78.3% |
| Japan |
1.1% |
-45.3% |
-34.1% |
-13.1% |
64.5% |
| Russian Fed. |
1.5% |
-10.0% |
0.4% |
-8.7% |
76.0% |
| US |
14.0% |
-60.7% |
-45.3% |
-23.8% |
60.9% |
|
|
|
|
| 1% of industry RPKs in 2019 2Year-on-year change in load factor 3Load Factor Level |
- China’s domestic traffic was down just 1.4% in October compared to October a year ago. The domestic economy was close to normality and low fares and so-called ’all you can fly’ deals boosted demand.
- Russia’s domestic traffic slipped back into negative numbers in October, down 10% after two months of growth. New COVID cases have taken their toll on travelers’ confidence, despite few domestic travel restrictions.
The Bottom Line:
“This crisis is unrelenting. Our latest economic outlook is for airlines to lose $118.5 billion this year, or $66 for every passenger carried. Assuming borders re-open by mid-2021, the industry will ‘only’ lose $38.7 billion in 2021. Now is the time for governments to step up. The $173 billion of support provided to date has enabled the industry to survive, but more is required to carry the industry through to next summer. IATA has identified a range of market stimulation options that will support the viability of air routes while encouraging people to travel. Without aviation’s $3.5 trillion contribution to global GDP, there can be no broader economic recovery,” said de Juniac. |
View the COVID-19 Most air travel markets remain weak presentation (pdf)
View the full October Air Passenger Market Analysis (pdf) |
