Flying in 2021 — It can only get better

There are some unexpected success stories in a year that IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac branded an “annus horribilis” for aviation. And even this characterization might be an understatement. But one has to look for these small hints of hope amid widespread desperation.

For example, Dubai-based Emirates Airlines, one of the grand industry players, was no stranger to success and always in expansion mode. Not so in 2020: For months on end, there were no flights or just a fraction of normal operations. That’s something that would have been impossible to imagine only months before. It’s been a year like no other.

“In the passenger business, we are now just at 18% of revenues we had last year,” Emirates President Sir Tim Clark told DW.