Number of passengers at national airports sinks 82% in November

National airports received 715,000 passengers in November 2020, down 82.1% on the same month a year earlier. The flash estimate published this Monday by the Statistics Portugal (INE) proves the impact that the pandemic continues to have on the aviation sector.

In November, 6,100 commercial aircraft landed at national airports, 61.4% less than in the same period last year, carrying a total of 715,000 people. Regarding the movement of freight and mail totalled at national airports, 14,200 tonnes were transported, 27.2% less than in November last year.

“Considering the number of aircraft landed and the number of passengers daily disembarked between January and November 2020, and comparing with the same period of the previous year, is visible the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures adopted at the airspace level from the beginning of the second fortnight of March,” INE said, pointing out that “Despite the recovery verified in July and August, since September there was a reversal of the trend and in November there was a further deterioration in the number of passengers disembarked.”

Between January and November, 93,400 commercial aircraft arrived at national airports, the equivalent of a 55.9% drop, and 17.4 million passengers (-69%) were handled.

In the Lisbon airport, “The movement of passengers corresponded to 50.3% of total handled passengers (8.7 million) and recorded a decrease of 69.8%,” INE explained, adding that, considering the three airports with the highest passenger traffic, “Faro airport showed the biggest decrease in the number of passengers handled between January and November 2020 (-75.4%).”