COVID-19 Impact On Airport Traffic: Analysis of 100 Airports

COVID-19 Impact On Airport Trafic – Analysis of 100+ Airports

We analyzed the traffic of more than 100 airlines worldwide to check how they performed compared to pre-pandemic traffic. In detail, we analyzed the number of flights in June 2021 and compared it to June 2019. As a result, we clustered the airports according to traffic increase or decline. Here’s what’s contained in detail:

Contents:
Airports That Increase Traffic
Airports That Maintained Traffic
Airports With >5% – 25% Traffic Decline
Airport With >25% – 40% Traffic Decline
Airports With >40% – 60% Traffic Decline
Airports With More Than 60% Traffic Decline

Airports That Increased Traffic

You may wonder if there are airports that operate more flights than pre-COVID. Well, there are. However, it seems to be a Chinese phenomenon. So let’s talk about the facts first. All airports on the list below increased their traffic by more than 5% compared to June 2019.

Moreover, we only show airports with a considerable amount of flights (3,000+). As you can see, 16 out of 17 airports are located in China. Moreover, most of the Chinese airports are secondary stations that operate 4,000 – 6,000 flights.

But: The airport with the most significant increase in traffic isn’t a Chinese one. Instead, Russia’s Sochi managed to skyrocket its traffic by 45%. Therefore, Sochi is the airport with the biggest gain compared to July 2019.

IATA	Airport	Flights June ’21	Flights June ’19	Difference
AER	Sochi	4,111	2,832	45%
HET	Hohhot	6,949	4,853	43%
CKG	Chongqing	16,049	12,599	27%
KWE	Guiyang	8,263	6,607	25%
XNN	Xining	3,616	3,015	20%
SYX	Sanya	5,270	4,430	19%
INC	Yinchuan	4,437	3,740	19%
NGB	Ningbo	3,851	3,306	16%
KHN	Nanchang	4,430	3,829	16%
CSX	Changsha	9,174	7,946	15%
TYN	Taiyuan	4,769	4,250	12%
CGQ	Changchun	4,303	3,892	11%
TNA	Jinan	5,579	5,230	10%
LHW	Lanzhou	5,635	5,125	10%
HAK	Haikou	6,445	5,869	10%
TSN	Tianjin	7,208	6,618	9%
XIY	Xi’an	15,150	14,179	7%

Airports That Maintained Traffic

The below lists airports that maintained the pre-COVID traffic level. Maintained in this context means the airport increased or decreased its traffic by 5%. Due to the enormous volatility caused by COVID, we consider 5% as pretty stable.

Once again, the vast majority of airports are located in China. Overall, 14 out of 18 airports are Chinese. Besides that, we have two airports from the United States: Kahului and Salt Lake City. Especially Salt Lake City impressed with 11,000 flights in June. With Seoul Gimpo and Cancun, two other non-China airports complete the list.

IATA	Airport	Flights June ’21	Flights June ’19	Difference
CTU	Chengdu	15,503	14,723	5%
OGG	Kahului	3,555	3,379	5%
WNZ	Wenzhou	3,764	3,590	5%
WUH	Wuhan	8,375	8,086	4%
SLC	Salt Lake City	11,045	10,714	3%
HRB	Harbin	6,071	5,936	2%
CGO	Zhengzhou	8,406	8,364	1%
GMP	Seoul Gimpo	6,066	6,043	0%
NKG	Nanjing	9,202	9,182	0%
FOC	Fuzhou	4,186	4,209	1%
URC	Urumqi	7,430	7,585	2%
HGH	Hangzhou	10,915	11,191	2%
ZUH	Zhuhai	3,587	3,684	3%
NNG	Nanning	4,443	4,575	3%
TAO	Qingdao	7,386	7,667	4%
XMN	Xiamen	7,450	7,735	4%
CUN	Cancun	6,407	6,668	4%
SHE	Shenyang	5,347	5,627	5%

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Airports With >5% – 25% Traffic Decline

With the below list, things are starting to get worse. The contained airports recorded a traffic volume decline of >5% – 25%. Unsurprisingly, the number of Chinese airports is much lower. However, with Shanghai (-6%), Kunming (-6%), Dalian (-10%), Shenzhen (-20%), and Shanghai Pudong (-22%), five out of 17 airports are located in China. Nevertheless, since we are now looking at airports that lost traffic, we see many other countries. However, as we will see later, a 5% – 25% reduction is still low compared to other airports.

The details: Besides China’s airports, we have another two Russian airports on the list. St. Petersburg and Moscow Domodedovo recorded a traffic decrease of 8% resp. 13%. Atlanta, one of the world’s biggest airports, had to manage a 22% decrease in flight numbers. Moreover, Seattle, Honolulu, and Charlotte are other U.S. airports on the list.

IATA	Airport	Flights June ’21	Flights June ’19	Difference
SHA	Shanghai Hongqiao	10,691	11,331	6%
KMG	Kunming	13,682	14,535	6%
CJU	Jeju	7,039	7,490	6%
CLT	Charlotte	21,173	22,681	7%
LED	St. Petersburg	6,306	6,877	8%
DLC	Dalian	5,997	6,677	10%
UPG	Makassar	4,583	5,168	11%
DME	Moscow Domodedovo	7,744	8,883	13%
SEA	Seattle-Tacoma	16,364	19,150	15%
VCP	Sao Paulo Viracopos	3,535	4,279	17%
HNL	Honolulu	5,403	6,667	19%
SZX	Shenzhen	11,467	14,384	20%
OSL	Oslo	3,296	4,154	21%
SAW	Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen	7,852	10,049	22%
ATL	Atlanta	29,479	38,024	22%
PVG	Shanghai Pudong	15,062	19,430	22%
GDL	Guadalajara	3,726	4,930	24%

Airport With >25% – 40% Traffic Decline

Let’s move on to the airports that recorded a traffic decline between 25% and 40%. 12 out of 22 airports are located in the United States. Moreover, with Athens, there’s only one European airport on the list. Since we haven’t seen many European airports so far, they might face even more significant downturns.

IATA	Airport	Flights June ’21	Flights June ’19	Difference
MSP	Minneapolis	12,133	16,311	26%
DTW	Detroit	12,056	16,392	26%
MCI	Kansas City	3,555	4,865	27%
KBP	Kyiv Borispol	2,985	4,154	28%
RUH	Riyadh	6,056	8,487	29%
MEX	Mexico City	12,150	17,050	29%
LAX	Los Angeles	19,324	27,195	29%
CGK	Jakarta Soekarno	12,459	17,697	30%
PHL	Philadelphia	10,732	15,369	30%
BNE	Brisbane	5,263	7,631	31%
SAN	San Diego	6,148	8,960	31%
PIT	Pittsburgh	3,502	5,121	32%
IAD	Washington Dulles	6,865	10,449	34%
ITM	Osaka	3,788	5,817	35%
BOG	El Dorado	7,624	11,839	36%
PDX	Portland	5,280	8,289	36%
PER	Perth	2,476	3,888	36%
RDU	Raleigh/Durham	4,008	6,411	37%
DOH	Doha	5,460	8,742	38%
AKL	Auckland	3,916	6,309	38%
ATH	Athens	6,307	10,401	39%
BOS	Boston	10,461	17,290	39%
DCA	Washington National Airport	7,212	12,056	40%

Airports With >40% – 60% Traffic Decline

The airports below are definitely hit hard by the pandemic. Compared to June 2019, these airports recorded a traffic decline of 40% – 60%. As you can easily see, airports from the United States or China are a rarity on this list. On the contrary, the number of European and African airports is growing massively. And, the numbers are pretty devastating: Amsterdam lost 55%, Madrid lost 57%, and Antalya lost 52%. However, many Asian airports that are not located in China face the same challenge as European airports. For example, Tokyo, Delhi, or Hyderabad recorded a traffic decline of 40% – 60% too.

IATA	Airport	Flights June ’21	Flights June ’19	Difference
FUK	Fukuoka	4,763	8,007	41%
GRU	Sao Paulo Guarulhos	5,759	10,025	43%
CAI	Cairo	3,596	6,362	43%
HND	Tokyo Haneda	11,737	20,810	44%
SJC	San Jose Norman	3,503	6,378	45%
IST	Istanbul Ataturk	10,009	18,597	46%
ORY	Paris Orly	5,435	10,232	47%
JED	Jeddah	5,070	10,014	49%
MEL	Melbourne	4,786	9,496	50%
SFO	San Francisco	9,378	18,667	50%
DEL	Delhi	9,151	18,300	50%
PMI	Palma de Mallorca	5,432	11,097	51%
HYD	Hyderabad	3,563	7,279	51%
CAN	Guangzhou	9,371	19,418	52%
AYT	Antalya	3,107	6,538	52%
LIS	Lisbon	4,405	9,559	54%
AMS	Amsterdam	9,339	20,558	55%
LGA	New York LaGuardia	6,993	15,749	56%
MAD	Madrid	7,420	17,434	57%
WAW	Warsaw	2,969	7,221	59%

Airports With More Than 60% Traffic Decline

And for all of you who were looking for the big European and Asian airports — well, we have them here. The list below contains airports that lost more than 60% of their traffic. Basically, you can find all major European airports on the list: Barcelona, Frankfurt, Milan, Brussels, London, Rome, etc. They all recorded a shocking decline of 60% – 80% in terms of flight traffic.

However, some of the major Asian hubs are hit even harder. Seoul, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur are at the bottom of the list, declining more than 80% and even 90%.

IATA	Airport	Flights June ’21	Flights June ’19	Difference
BCN	Barcelona	5,782	15,042	62%
FRA	Frankfurt	8,182	21,617	62%
MXP	Milan	3,236	8,609	62%
SGN	Ho Chi Minh City	3,895	10,758	64%
BRU	Brussels	3,055	8,885	66%
VIE	Vienna	3,856	11,757	67%
STN	London Stansted	2,448	7,798	69%
ZRH	Zurich	3,339	10,831	69%
FCO	Rome Fiumicino	4,074	14,117	71%
CPH	Copenhagen	3,062	11,177	73%
ARN	Stockholm Arlanda	2,482	9,263	73%
LHR	London Heathrow	5,454	20,386	73%
MUC	Munich	4,598	17,264	73%
KWI	Kuwait	1,131	5,034	78%
HEL	Helsinki	1,713	7,671	78%
DUB	Dublin	2,095	10,298	80%
MAN	Manchester	1,654	8,603	81%
SIN	Singapore	2,294	15,09	85%
ICN	Seoul Incheon	2,235	15,381	85%
BKK	Bangkok	2,169	14,988	86%
HKG	Hong Kong	1,524	15,090	90%
NRT	Tokyo Narita	2,065	20,810	90%
KUL	Kuala Lumpur	1,160	16,924	93%

Used Data

The shown information is based on OAG data and internal data sources.

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