Analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the decline in passenger traffic at France's leading airports: trends and prospects for post-crisis development

Abstract

Purpose: the key goal of the study is to analyze the decline in aviation traffic in the structure of the leading airports in France. In order to achieve the most objective result, data on the fall in passenger traffic of the two largest Metropolitan airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, as well as data on the fall in aviation traffic of the largest regional airports are presented. Discussion: the key sources for the study were statistical materials from the French Ministry of ecology and transport and analytical data from the International aviation Agency (IATA). According to the results of operations in 2019, the French passenger air transport market was one of the key markets in the structure of the European region. The distinctive characteristics of the French passenger air transport market were: the development of the regional route network, a high share of low-cost airline destinations in the route network structure, and high passenger traffic at regional airports. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an extremely negative impact on the decline in the air transportation market, reducing air traffic and reducing the number of passengers transported. Results: the result of the study is a forecast of falling air traffic by the end of 2020. Based on the data of aviation traffic statistics for the period January - September 2020, taking into account external and internal political factors, taking into account the data of the Ministry of ecology and transport of France, the forecast drop in aviation traffic was calculated. The drop in air traffic is an important factor in assessing the impact of the 2020 crisis on the passenger air transport market, along with the indicator of the number of passengers transported