COVID-19 has obviously had a harsh impact on the aviation industry and, as such, airlines around the world have been reducing their flight schedules.
I was keen to find out just how many flights had been cancelled on some key routes both in Australia and overseas. To do so, I compared a Thursday in April 2020 with one six months ago.
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How much have flights dropped due to COVID-19?
Key domestic & international routes in Australia
| Route | 10 October 2019 | 16 April 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney - Melbourne | |||
| Qantas | 42 | 1 | -98% |
| Virgin Australia | 25 | 1 | -96% |
| Jetstar | 21 | 0 | -100% |
| Tigerair | 11 | 0 | -100% |
| Brisbane - Perth | 9 | 0 | -100% |
| Adelaide - Darwin | 2 | 0 | -100% |
| Melbourne - Singapore | 9 | 0 | -100% |
| Sydney - Hong Kong | 6 | 0 | -100% |
| Sydney - Los Angeles | 5 | 0 | -100% |
| Average | -99% |
Other key international routes
| Route | 10 October 2019 | 16 April 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| London - Dublin | 57 | 5 | -91% |
| New York - Toronto | 51 | 2 | -96% |
| Singapore - Kuala Lumpur | 39 | 0 | -100% |
| New York - London | 32 | 2 | -94% |
| London - Dubai | 14 | 0 | -100% |
| Average | -96% |
Top 5 routes by number of flights
| Route | 10 October 2019 | 16 April 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seoul - Jeju | 105 | 76 | -28% |
| Sydney - Melbourne | 99 | 2 | -98% |
| São Paulo - Rio de Janeiro | 92 | 2 | -98% |
| Tokyo - Fukuoka | 70 | 28 | -60% |
| Delhi - Mumbai | 66 | 0 | -100% |
| Average | -77% |
Summing up
COVID-19 has led airlines to cancel a lot of the flights on their schedule. Based on the routes I’ve selected above, there has been a ~93% decrease in the number of flights on key routes in Australia and overseas.
As the curve is flattened, we can expect to see an (albeit) slow increase in the frequency of flights.
Crunching the numbers: by how much have flights dropped due to COVID-19? was last modified: April 16th, 2020 by
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