Frankfurt airport traffic hits three-decade low

The company that runs Frankfurt’s airport said Monday that passenger numbers in 2020 plunged to their lowest since the 1980s as the coronavirus pandemic devastated the travel sector, according to AFP.

Some 18.8 million passengers passed through Germany’s largest airport in 2020, 73 percent fewer than the previous year and the lowest level since 1984, operator Fraport said.

In France, airport operator Aeroport de Paris said in the AFP report that traffic at the capital’s two main airports was 69.4 percent lower last year.

Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris reported a drop of 70.8 percent at 22.3 million passengers, while smaller Orly to the south was down by 66.1 percent at 10.8 million, according to AFP.

Figures compiled by the International Civil Aviation Organization underscore the pandemic’s effect on air travel globally.

ICAO data show the overall number of passengers fell by 60 percent to 1.8 billion worldwide, a level last seen in 2003.

In 2019, around 4.5 billion people globally had travelled on board planes, the UN body said.