The number of airline passengers is less than 40 million… Corona to IMF days

Input 2021.02.14 17:00

International passengers -84.2%, domestic passengers -23.7%
International air freight, excluding baggage, grows slightly

Due to the coronavirus infection (Corona 19), the number of air passengers last year reached the lowest level in 20 years. The number of air passengers below 40 million has been 20 years since 1998 (3361 million) and 1999 (37.89 million) immediately after the IMF financial crisis.

According to the aviation industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 14th, the number of air passengers last year was 39.4 million. It fell 68.1% from 112.337 million people in 2019.

International passengers totaled 14.24 million, down 84.2% over the same period. By region, the decline in Japanese routes was the most (-88.2%), followed by ▲China -87.8% ▲Asia (excluding China and Japan) -83.4% ▲Europe -82.2% ▲The Americas -72.3%. By airline, passengers decreased by 82.3% for large national carriers (FSC) and 86.7% for low-cost carriers (LCC).

Relatively, domestic passengers were saved. Last year, the number of domestic passengers was 25.16 million, down 23.7% from 2019. Monthly domestic passengers fell to 1.1 million in March last year when the corona crisis began in earnest. Since then, it has recovered and recorded 2.94 million in November of last year, up 2.5% from November of 2019.

With the increase of unused passenger planes and the decrease in luggage, the air cargo volume of last year also decreased 23.9% from 2019 to 3.25 million tons. However, cargo excluding luggage decreased by only 0.6% during the same period to 2.91 million tons, and international cargo excluding luggage increased by 0.4%. As passenger demand plummeted, it was interpreted as expanding the cargo business centered on large airlines.

Korean Air (003490)According to separate financial statements, sales in the passenger business division last year decreased 74% from 2019, but sales in the cargo business division increased by 66%. During the same period, the total sales decreased by 40% to KRW 7.40 trillion, but the operating profit decreased by only 17% to KRW 238.3 billion.

According to the airline industry, the outlook for the passenger market this year is not bright. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicted that this year’s passenger demand will be around 50% compared to 2019, before the corona crisis. However, as the air cargo market is expected to recover to the level in 2019, airlines are expected to continue their management centering on the cargo business.