Air transport indicators retreat as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic

After recording, in 2019, the highest volume of passengers transported since the beginning of the historical series of Brazilian civil aviation, 119.3 million, the Brazilian air transportation presented much less expressive numbers in 2020. Under the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the performance of this indicator suffered a strong reduction last year, registering a total of 52 million domestic and international passengers carried, 56% lower than the previous year.

This is the lowest figure of travelers since 2005 – in that year the sector carried 49 million people. Another indicator greatly affected in the period was the number of flights made by airlines in the domestic and international market. Last year, there were 465 thousand takeoffs, 51% less than the number registered in the 12 months of the previous year. This and other indicators were published on August 12 by the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) in the Air Transport Yearbook (available only in Portuguese).

The pandemic and the strong impact on the sector

In Brazil, from April to December 2020, the number of domestic flights was 64% lower than performed in the same period of 2019. Year-to-date, total takeoffs performed were 49.5% lower than a year earlier. The international market was even more severely impacted last year. From April to December, the average number of takeoffs was 76% lower than a year earlier.

The sharp downturn in the civil aviation market began with the worsening of the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus. Since then, health authorities started to adopt more restrictive sanitary and border control measures, which caused, in many cases, the total cancellation of flights between countries, resulting in great impacts on commercial aviation.

Company participation and data per airport

Of the 465 thousand flights made by airlines in 2020, 87% were in operations within the country, which represents 405 thousand takeoffs in the period. With 36% of the total number of flights made in the domestic market, Azul was the company that performed the most takeoffs throughout last year, followed by Gol and Latam, with 30% and 26%, respectively.

On the other hand, in terms of paid passengers carried in the Brazilian market, Gol had the highest percentage, with 35.9% (16.2 million). Soon after came Latam, with 32.1% (14.5 mi), and Azul, with 31.1% (14 mi). In the comparison with 2019, Latam was the company with the largest reduction in percentage terms, around 54%. Gol, with 52.6%, came next. Azul had a negative variation of 45.2% in this indicator.

In 2020, Guarulhos airport, in São Paulo, continued to be the terminal with the highest number of paid passengers carried in the country, 7.9 million. The figure represents 17.5% of the 45.1 million people who traveled on national flights last year. The airport of Brasilia, in the Federal District, gained one position in the ranking in comparison with 2019 figures, ranking second, with 3.8 mi (8.4%) of passengers carried. Congonhas airport, in São Paulo, on the other hand, reversed position with Brasilia airport. In 2020, a total of 3.4 million passengers (7.5%) passed through the São Paulo terminal.

The terminals of Viracopos, in Campinas, with 3 million (6.8%), and Santos Dumont, in Rio de Janeiro, with 2.5 million (5.5%), closed the top 5 list. The complete list with the busiest airports in 2020 can be accessed on the Air Transport Market page (available in Portuguese only).

Detailed industry information

The 2020 Air Transport Yearbook provides detailed information by airport, airline, routes (domestic and international), region and state unit, and data on passenger and cargo movements, aircraft fleet, personnel per company, number of flights, number of airports that received scheduled and non-scheduled flights, as well as market share, aircraft utilization rate, percentages of delays and cancellations, commercial air fares, among others.

The data presented in the Air Transport Yearbook are provided by the airlines in compliance with specific regulations and undergo constant auditing procedures in order to achieve the highest possible degree of consistency. For this reason, the numbers are subject to change.

The information is available for consultation in the Data and Statistics section of ANAC's website (available only in Portuguese).