U.K. Airport Passenger Numbers Drop 75% In 2020
The number of passengers travelling through U.K. airports fell by 223 million in 2020 because of travel restrictions, a decline of 75% from 2019. The Guardian has the story.
About 74 million people passed through U.K. airports in 2020, less than a quarter of the 297 million recorded in 2019, according to PA Media’s analysis of annual Civil Aviation Authority data.
The Airport Operators Association (AOA) said the figures demonstrated the devastating impact of the virus on aviation.
Cardiff airport suffered the largest drop in passenger numbers at 86.7%, followed by Glasgow Prestwick at 85.8% and Exeter at 85.5%.
The figure for Southampton fell by 83.4%, London City by 82.3% and Leeds Bradford by 81.2%.
Heathrow, the U.K.’s largest airport, recorded a 72.7% decline from 80.9 million passengers in 2019 to 22.1 million last year. The figures include all passengers who travelled through British airports excluding the Channel Islands or Isle of Man.
Demand for air travel collapsed in March 2020 when the U.K. went into its first national lockdown, mirroring lockdowns elsewhere and forcing airlines around the world to ground their planes.
Travel began to recover by late summer and into the autumn, but passenger numbers plummeted again in November after many restrictions were reimposed in the U.K. as it faced a second wave of the virus.
Karen Dee, the AOA’s Chief Executive, said: “These figures lay bare the devastating impact Covid has had on U.K. airports. With passengers down nearly 90% between April and December 2020, airports’ economic output was decimated and significant numbers of jobs were lost.”
She said the Government’s “overly cautious” approach to reopening travel meant this summer would be “as bad, if not worse, than 2020”. U.K. airports will lose at least another £2.6 billion in revenues this summer, following a similar loss between April and September 2020, the AOA estimates.
Dee said: “This leaves U.K. airports trailing behind international competitors in the E.U. and U.S., who not only received significantly more financial support from their governments but are also now able to restart travel over the summer.”
Worth reading in full.
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Outlaw discrimination against those who do not get a Covid-19 vaccination
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/575801
outlaw those who call for more outlawing.
Oh dear. The rumours of your departure were exaggerated!
Shes probably been too poorly from the jab to respond 😂
By chance I have come across a report from yesterday in Sky News that the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee have issued a very strong report rejecting Covid passports as being discriminatory etc. and that the idea domestically should be scrapped. They were also very critical of the Govt.’.s actions so far on rolling these out for use for international travel preempting reports by the Govt. , the committee and without consulting Parliament which could be tantamount to a contempt of Parliament.
I have not seen this reported anywhere else. I am used to the million plus marches I have been on being ignored and censored but it seems the MSM also ignores and censors Hose of Commons Committee Reports if the findings are contrary to the Govt. Agenda
In other news Pontiff still Catholic, bears still defecating in areas populated with trees…
FYI, this Pope Not Catholic.
Is he a Christian?
Rather more so than ‘our’ despicable ABC!
a Covidian.
Nope!
Well, duh!
I would prefer to say it was the devastating impact of the government’s continuing and disatrous Covid policy rather than the virus itself.
Yep – and I bet the numbers will be worse this year!
Demand for air travel collapsed?
No it didn’t. The demand was still there. Governments made it virtually impossible to travel.
Love how the media and crokked politicians claim it was the virus that caused this unexpected result and not the criminals in Govt, SAGE and Media.
Love how the spineless twat of a PM we have flew in rather than take a limo or train !
For Airports read the whole industry. I did 47 years as an airline pilot and luckily retired before all this hit. Many many from all industries have lost jobs. In my former industry young men and women borrowed heavily and now face ruin.
Things may be bad now, but if future governments are determined to get to net zero (carbon dioxide) then the future could be even worse. I’m dubious that massive numbers of flights can run on biofuels or hydrogen, and most people know that carbon offsetting is a scam. Maybe this is one reason why the government is slow to allow international travel to resume, they’re trying to wean us of air travel as part of the plan to use lockdown as preperation for net zero, which will involve massive restrictions on our freedom and a devastated economy.
Absolutely correct analysis. I have strongly believed this is has been a cornerstone of the agenda from the very start. Note that Fergusson was shagging a major green lobbyist. Bojoke is married to another and his father was yet another of the green lunatics. What we need to understand is that the UK aviation industry is as dead as the dodo – but you ain’t seen nothing yet. It will be cars next. Easy done. Massive tax on fuel and restrictions on supply. I give it 18 months at this rate. All part of the “great reset”.
The Airport Operators Association (AOA) said the figures demonstrated the devastating impact of GOVERNMENTS on aviation.
FIFY
I work at the airport and can confirm that demand has not collapsed.
An airline can be ticking along reasonably well given the circumstances and then as soon as the government slams their country of origin onto the “red list”, their passenger numbers drop like a stone due to the fact that people do not wish or are not able to pay to be imprisoned. The so called “amber list” is expensive enough, but numbers hold up slightly better when a country is on that list.
As everybody with half a brain knows and anybody with a shred of honesty will admit, passenger numbers are down by as much as they are due to travel restrictions. Nothing else. Not ‘the virus’.
Last winter weren’t Italy’s ski resorts packed (during the short periods that they were allowed to open) even though hundreds of people in Italy were dying of Covid every day?
That certainly goes a long way to refute claims that it is “the virus” (as opposed to the restrictions) that is damaging the economy.
LONDON
Mon, 14 June, 12 noon till late
Downing St, London
MONDAY https://gab.com/emoji/1f511.svghttps://gab.com/emoji/1f510.svghttps://gab.com/emoji/1f513.svghttps://gab.com/emoji/1f929.svg
JUNE 14TH , BE THERE
1O DOWNING STREET
12 PM
EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO PEACEFULLY GATHER.
Here is why we are where we are, and shows where we are going.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/it-wont-be-pleasant-mark-carney-unveils-dystopian-new-world-combat-climate-crisis
Could Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonald and all the hard Labour merry men have created a worse mess for the economy and the little people who are not public servants (ha), than Boris Johnson and his politburo has done
They likely would have, not because of their already-established policy positions (which may have actually been better) but because they’d be more likely to be seduced by the siren song of zero Covid, which is a non-starter unless (amongst other things) airport passenger numbers dropped by at least 98% as opposed to 75%.
Our rights would have been better served under Corbyn
For all his faults I don’t think he would have gone as far as the Pig Dictator
So you think the zero-Covid noises that currently come from a fair number of Labour lefties are just virtue signalling that they feel they can safely engage in from a position of opposition?