Global passenger traffic has decreased significantly in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19. Everywhere has been affected by these reduced travellers, but not all places have been impacted the same. 7/10 of the busiest airports during this period have been in China, and the remaining 3 being in the United States. As for taking in international passengers, Dubai Airport saw the largest number of travellers into the country, with Amsterdam and London following up closely behind. While these are the most popular airports for international travellers, the decrease in passenger footfall is significant at around -70% to -72% loss of traffic.
The fact that American and Chinese airports seem to be the least impacted is due to the growth in domestic travel, it is making a modest return currently. This is not reflected in international travel, however, due to travel restrictions that exist across borders.
Analysing air cargo also, it appears that both Chinese and American airlines have generated the highest amounts of both cargo and passenger footfall. Interestingly, some airports actually saw a growth in air cargo weight, such as Memphis (US) and Chinese Taipei! Despite the fact air cargo has been less impacted by Covid-19, it still presents a global loss of 1 million metric tonnes compared to 2016 levels.
With the slow re-opening of international travel occurring due to rising covid vaccination rates, passenger footfall is expected to increase back to previous levels, although tentatively. It will take a long while for airports and airlines alike to recover losses due to the pandemic, as passengers are now more concerned about transmission of Covid-19 and are less likely to travel internationally than previously.
