Airline pax revenue falls 73% in Q420 year-on-year: IATA

MUMBAI: Global airlines’ passenger revenue was set back by about 73 % year-on-year in Q420 as the recovery in air travel demand stalled, according to the initial sample of airlines’ data tracked by International Air Transport Association (IATA) for its January 2021 airlines financial monitor.
Airlines’ top priority has been cutting costs since the beginning of pandemic and significant progress has been made on reducing fixed/ semi-fixed costs, said there report . “Airlines in our sample reduced maintenance and employment costs respectively by 54% and 39% in 4Q20 vs 4Q19,’’ it said.However, the decline in operating costs (-45%) was much lower compared to the loss in revenues (-67%). “The year 2021 will also be a challenging year and airlines will look for cost cutting measures until the recovery starts with the opening up of international markets,’’ said the report.
But cargo revenues were strong, a growth of 53% year-on-year, what with capacity limitations keeping cargo yields at elevated levels. As for passenger revenue, global base passenger yields (in US$, excluding ancillary revenues) trended downwards in November and December as airlines tried to stimulate stagnating demand due to rising travel restrictions.