- Only 1.8 billion travelers took to the skies in 2020, as against 4.5 billion in 2019
- Pandemic caused 50% drop in domestic air traffic globally in 2020
Signs are pointing to significant recovery and travel demand in the second half of 2021 and a sustainable recovery in air operations, Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General, UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), said on Tuesday.
In his welcome address at the Air Traffic Control (ATC) Forum and Global Airport Leaders Forum (GALF) co-located with the three-day Airport Show 2021 in Dubai, Suwaidi said they will continue their efforts to make 2021 a year of transition for sustainable recovery and growth.
“We foresee only a 49 percent recovery — 26 percent international and 66 percent for domestic. As against 4.5 billion travellers in 2019, only 1.8 billion passengers took to the skies last year,” Suwaidi said. “The coronavirus pandemic led to a 50 per cent drop in domestic passenger traffic globally and 74 per cent in international traffic in 2020.”
Today, despite the catastrophe and the vaccination rollout and increase in supply of vaccines globally more passengers are expected to return to travel and the UAE expects even more. Al Suwaidi said adding the UAE was able to retain the supply chain of essential and non-essential goods to other nations.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the UAE has communicated with airports and airlines and formed several internal and national bodies to adjust and adopt safety certification to maintain acceptable safety and security standards and support our industry, its personnel and passengers from the COVID-19 spread.
“On the aviation safety and security front we have adapted publishing and adopting unprecedented facilities and provisions and techniques to ensure continuity of services to maintain safe operation of our aircraft, airports and air navigation infrastructure,” Suwaidi said. “From the time the total suspension of the non-essential operations was started in March 2020, we have started working and planning for the recovery during the peak of the pandemic.”
Ismaeil Al Balooshi, Assistant Director General Aviation Safety Affairs, UAE GCAA, said the UAE community is back to normalcy thanks to an effective vaccination strategy.
“We are up for good news. We have reached its pre-pandemic level. Community is open but there is no complacency,” he said at the session titled ‘Air Traffic Management in the post-COVID era. “Retail and recreation is an indicator for community normalisation. Our recovery will be surging when other states will open up with the UAE, and we are all eyeing at normalcy for 2021.”
On the effect of vaccine, he said the UAE has an 80 percent vaccination rate. “The vaccine is working and it has an encouraging effect on lower death rate and infections rate, while the UAE has still maintained a high level of testing rates,” Al Balooshi said.
In 2019, the UAE contributed to around 2.2 percent (in top 30 countries) in terms of worldwide international flights while the UAE population was 0.1 percent of worldwide population in 2020, around 2.5 percent.
The Dubai International Airport (DXB) retained its position as the No 1 for international passengers for the sixth year, with annual traffic for 2019 reaching 86.4 million, 6 million more than airport ranking No.2.