Conference Papers 2021

Seminar
Day 1 (13 Sep 2021), Session 2, THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON AIR TRANSPORTATION, 14:00 - 16:00

Status
Accepted, awaiting documents

Submitted by / Abstract owner
Annitsa Koumoutsidi

Authors
Annitsa Koumoutsidi , Ioanna Pagoni, Amalia Polydoropoulou

Short abstract
The paper aims to investigate Covid-19 impact on air transportation combining a quantitative analysis to assess the short-term effects on air travel in Greece and in-depth interviews with aviation experts to provide insights for the long-term effects

Abstract
The mobility restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic have caused an unparallel recession in the aviation industry globally triggering several challenges for airlines, airports, aircrafts manufacturers and handlers. Even when some of these restrictions have been waived, air transportation continued to suffer from very low demand levels. Many people had shifted to teleworking which meant that business travel has not been necessary, while tourism and leisure trips performed a huge dive due to lockdown. A characteristic example of these implications is the Greek case, where in July 2020 travel receipts fell by 84.4% year-on-year (Bank of Greece, 2020).
Although the current pandemic is not the first crisis to affect air transportation, by far it has resulted in the largest reduction of international passengers historically observed, ranging from a 44% to an 80% decline in 2020 (ICAO, 2020). However, as noted by Gössling et al. (2020) and Amankwah-Amoah (2020), this crisis could bring some opportunities to the aviation industry and lead to a more sustainable and resilient system. On these grounds and in order to explore the future of air transportation in the challenging era of Covid-19, this paper aims to present an analysis on the short- and long-term impacts of the pandemic implications on air transportation. First, a quantitative analysis is conducted to assess the short-term impact of the pandemic on air travel in Greece. Secondly, in-depth interviews with a pool of distinguished experts in the sector are conducted (during the summer of 2020) and a qualitative data analysis is carried out. These key experts include representatives from both the aviation industry (e.g. airports, airlines, aircraft manufacturers) and academia. The qualitative analysis is conducted through a specialized software (NVivo) and identifies three main pillars as follows: short-term effects of Covid-19 on the aviation industry; corresponding mitigation actions and strategic plans already followed by the governments and the industry stakeholders respectively during the outbreak; and long-term effects on the future policy-making to mitigate the Covid-19 disruption. Our findings indicate the need for state aid to all stakeholders of the aviation industry (including airports, airlines as well as aircraft manufacturers) even during the recovery period. In addition, it is indicated that this pandemic situation has led to the adoption of innovative initiatives in air travel to utilize excess main cabin capacity by converting main passenger aircraft cabins into hybrid passenger-freight space.
References
1. International Civil Aviation Organization, Uniting Aviation (2020, June 1). Effects of Novel Coronavirus (COVID‐19) on Civil Aviation Economic Impact Analysis. https://www.icao.int/sustainability/Documents/COVID-19/ICAO_Coronavirus_Econ_Impact.pdf
2. Gössling, S. (2020). Risks, resilience, and pathways to sustainable aviation: A COVID-19 perspective. Journal of Air Transport Management, 89, 101933.
3. Amankwah-Amoah, J. (2020). Stepping up and stepping out of COVID-19: New challenges for environmental sustainability policies in the global airline industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 271, 123000.
4. Bank of Greece, (September, 2020). Developments in the balance of travel services: July 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.bankofgreece.gr/en/news-and-media/press-office/news-list/news?announcement=149ffc95-9bea-406c-84b2-aafc4d283594

Programme committee
Aviation

Topic
COVID-19 and the Consequences