March 9, 2021

Transports Fact & Figures

Transport: Welcome to 1995!

European airports last year welcomed 728 million passengers, losing, in just one year, 1.72 billion passengers, which represents a decrease of 70.4%. According to the Airports Council International Europe, the figure took European airports back into the year 1995.

A sad end for Berlin Tegel airport which shut its doors on October 31 in the midst of the pandemic ( Photo: Cleverdis / L Citrinot)

Night trains are back in Europe, and 2021 will see new lines being added. Following the launching of a “TEE 2.0” by transport ministers and CEOs of rail companies in Austria, France, Germany and Switzerland, lines will this year link Vienna to Paris via Munich, Zurich-Amsterdam via Cologne and Paris to Nice.

The Austrian ÖBB is Europe’s largest provider of night trains (Nightjet – © ÖBB/Harald Eisenberger)

The USA saw a sharp contraction of 26% in passenger travel last year. Americans made 370 billion trips of any kind compared to 498 billion trips a year earlier. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) controlled only 324 million passengers in airports compared to 823 million passengers in 2019.

Chicago O’Hare airport (Photo: Flickr user ChicagoAtNight, CC BY-SA 2.0)

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