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Anxiety and restrictions caused by the risk of transmission along with the coronavirus pandemic have led to serious declines, especially in air travel. According to the data announced by Turna.com, despite the flight bans that were lifted in June, the number of airline ticket purchasers decreased by 63% between 1 June and 30 November.

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ISTANBUL (TR) - The coronavirus pandemic, which has affected the whole world since the first months of 2020, especially negatively affected the tourism industry. Within the scope of the measures taken, although the flight bans imposed in April and May were lifted as of June, the anxiety caused by the risk of contamination in the society prevented travel. According to the data shared by the plane and bus ticket platform Turna.com, in the 6-month period covering the period from June 1 to November 30, 2020, those who purchased airline tickets decreased by 63%. With many countries introducing frequent restrictions, especially international flights decreased significantly compared to 2019: Domestic flights decreased by 60% and international flights decreased by 81%.

Commenting on the data they announced, Turna.com General Manager Dr. Kadir Kırmızı said, "Although there was a relative recovery in August with the effect of the holiday period, we see that airlines carried only 55% of passengers in 2019. We can say that August is the best season for domestic flights, while September is the best season for international flights. We expect the flights that do not exceed 50% of 2019 in the best month to recover again next spring, with the start of vaccination.”

Istanbul-Bodrum has lost its place on the 5 most popular routes

The data shared by Turna.com also revealed the most traveled routes during the pandemic process. The pandemic did not cause serious changes in the routes most frequently flown on domestic routes, but Adana - Istanbul replaced Istanbul - Bodrum, which ranked in the top 5 in 2019. This was considered as a result of the increase in travel by vehicles due to the risk of contamination, replacing some air travel. In terms of the number of trips, air travel has decreased significantly on the most popular routes. Travels between Istanbul and Izmir, the most popular route, have decreased by 74%.

Amsterdam was replaced by Tehran!

According to the data, Istanbul-Baku, Antalya-Kiev and Istanbul-Tashkent, among the top 3 destinations in 2019, remained in place with the highest number of flights abroad. Amsterdam, which was in the top 5 last year, was replaced by Tehran, and Odessa was replaced by Belgrade. It was observed that travel bans imposed especially in Europe seriously changed popular travel destinations.

France is no longer among the most visited countries

Another notable point in changing travel habits was the changes in the rankings of the most popular countries traveled in 2020. Germany, which has a dense expatriate population, ranked first in 2020 as in 2019. France, which was in the top 5 last year, left its place to Uzbekistan. While Russia dropped one place and became the fourth country in the list of popular countries, it was seen that countries with less travel restrictions instead of European countries started to rank higher in the lists.

Women travel less

Turna.com also revealed the ratio of men and women who traveled by plane during the pandemic. In this process, while the share of men in air travel increased from 54% to 56%, the share of women decreased from 46% in the previous period to 44%. The average age of airline passengers has also dropped from 34 to 33.

Pegasus leads in domestic flights while THY lead on abroad

Striking data on airline companies were also included in the study. While Pegasus maintained its first place in domestic flights, compared to other airlines, Sunexpress was the airline that experienced the least decrease in passenger numbers in the market. The clear superiority of Turkish Airlines (THY) in international flights continued. Although the number of flights of THY decreased, it was seen that it strengthened its place in the ranking. It was noteworthy that Sunexpress climbed 6 places in the international flights and ranked 3rd. Wind Rose and Sky Up, Ukraine-based low-cost airlines, which stand out especially with charter flights, surpassed traditional airlines and started to be in the top 10. Among the most important airlines affected by the flight bans, Saudia, Saudi Arabia's leading airline, and Russia's leading airline, Aeroflot, lost their places in the ranking during the pandemic period.