Number of passengers travelling by air in EU was 73% less in 2020 than 2019

In 2020, the total number of passengers travelling by air in the EU was 277 million, a substantial decrease of 73% compared with 2019, Eurostat said.

To prevent the spread of Covid19, countries around the world have taken a variety of restrictive measures since the beginning of 2020. The air transport industry was severely hit, Eurostat said.

All Member States registered large drops in 2020 compared with 2019. The highest fall was observed for Slovenia (-83%), followed by Slovakia and Croatia (both -82%). Among the remaining EU Member States, 20 recorded a decline of 70% or more over the same period. The four remaining Member States registered drops of more than 65%, with the lowest decrease being observed for Luxembourg (-67%). Malta saw a -76.1% decrease.

Share of extra and intra-EU air transport decreased while national increased

Extra-EU passenger transport represented 45% of total air passenger transport in 2020. On the other hand, intra-EU transport represented 33% and national transport represented 22%. Compared with 2019, the share of extra-EU and intra-EU transport decreased by 6 and 1 percentage points in 2020, to the benefit of national transport, Eurostat said.