The Influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Transportation Industry

        The COVID-19 Pandemic is one of the worst health crises in a century and it changed global transportation industry. In this report, according to Brand Value (China) Network, the global transportation is classified into the following 6 parts: 

     1. the global airline industry.

     2. the global air cargo industry.

     3. the global marine cargo industry.

     4. the global railway freight transport industry.

     5. the global railroad passenger industry.

     6. the global road freight transport industry. 

Part 1. The influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the global airline industry 

In 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic swept the whole word and airline industry is one of the hardest hit industries. According to International Air Transport Association （IATA),  in 2019, the net profit of the global air transport industry reached $ 26.4 billion US dollars. In the year of 2020, because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the global airline industry basically stopped and its net loss reached $137.7 billion US dollars. In 2021, as the COVID-19 Pandemic became better, the global air transport industry lost $42 billion U.S dollars. In 2022, it was expected to lose $ 6.9 billion U.S. dollars. Therefore,the global airline industry is still in the middle of a harsh winter and losing money every day. 

        In January 2022, according to Forbes’ top airlines ranking list by operating revenue, American Delta Airlines ranked 1st in the world with a revenue of $ 35 billion. 

Part 2. The influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the global air cargo industry

Compared with Airline industry, the global air cargo industry is less affected because global demand for anti-pandemic such as vaccines is increasing. From 2020 to 2018, the global air cargo volume showed an overall upward trend. In the year of 2019, it declined slightly, reaching 61.3 million tons. In the year of 2020, it dropped by 9.1% to 55.72 million tons, the biggest drop since the financial crisis of 2008. According to http:// www.statista.com, the total cargo volume of 2021 recovered quickly to  65.60 million tons,almost equal to that of 2019 before the pandemic.

In addition, according to HTTP:// www. statista.com, the air freight rate between Hongkong and North America reached a record high of $12.72 U.S. dollars per kilogram in December, 2021. In November 2022, according to the BalticFeightIndex (BFI), the air freight rate paid by cargo agency fell to $6.49 U.S. dollars per kilogram, basically returning to the pre-pandemic level.

According to the latest World Air Transport Statistics (WATS)’s report of the International Air Transport Association, the world's top 25 cargo airlines were released in 2021, and FedEx ranked first, with a cargo volume of 20.66 billion ton-kilometers, an increase of 5.1% year on year, followed by Qatar Airways,、UPS、Emirates Airlines、Korean Air.

Part 3. The influence of COVID-19 on the global marine cargo industry

According to the data of United Nations, over 80% of the volume of international trade in goods is carried by sea. Based on the volume of international trade, it’s estimated that the global maritime trade volume increased from 20.55 billion tons in 2016 to 21.93 billion tons in 2021, with a CAGR of 5.2%. According to brand value (China) network, compared with other forms of transport, maritime shipping has the advantages of low cost and safety. It’s expected that the total global seaborne trade volume will reach 22.6541 billion tons in 2022. Therefore, the COVID-19 did not influence deeply the global marine cargo industry.

According to the Top Marine Transport Companies in the world of 2012-2022 released on December 30,2022,10 out of 20 most famous brands disappeared in the past 10 years. MAERSK ranked first and is also called “The No.1 biggest Marine Transport Company in the world”. MAERSK is based in Copenhagen, Denmark with the largest container shipping line in the world. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, MEDITERRANEAN SHIPPING COMPANY S.A.ranked second, followed by CMA CGM SHIPPING CO.,LTD.and China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited.

Part 4. The influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the global railway freight transport industry

According to https://www.maximizemarketresearch.com ，the market size of global railway freight transport was US $289.69 billion in 2019, and then increased steadily to US $323.26 billion by 2022. Therefore, the annual growth rate was relatively stable and was basically unaffected by the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

According to the above chart by https://blog.bizvibe.com/, American Union Pacific Railroad ranked 1st in the world based on market cap. On the other hand, German Deutsche Bahn ranked 1st in the world based on revenue. 

Part 5.The influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the global railroad passenger industry

According to the above chart provided by German SCI Verhehr Consultation Company, the year of 2020 saw the number of railway passengers dropped by 35% because of lockdown measures caused by COVID-19 Pandemic such as travel restrictions, centralized quarantine and social distancing. In the year of 2022, the number of railway passengers returned to that of 2019.

         According to the data of National Bureau of Statistics of China, China's railway passenger volume reached its peak in 2019, 3.66 billion person-times, ranking first in the world. Due to the COVID-19 control measures, the volume decreased significantly in 2020 and in 2021. In 2022, the volume recovered to 70% of 2019.

Part 6.The influence of COVID-19 on the global road freight transport industry

Based on the above chart, in 2020, the road freight transport revenue worldwide dropped by nearly 22% to €1.7 trillion euros caused by COVID-19 Pandemic. In 2021, it was estimated to be about € 2 trillion euros. Therefore, the COVID-19 Pandemic had some effects on the road freight transport worldwide.

According to http://www.nationmaster.com, on the ranking list of 2019 based on road freight transport (Million tonne kilometers), China ranked first followed by America、India、Poland , and Germany.

Conclusion

      1.The global airline industry was hit hardest by the COVID-19 Pandemic. In the year of 2020, because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the global airline industry basically stopped and its net loss reached $137.7 billion US dollars. In the year of 2022, it still lost money. American Delta Airlines ranked first in the world based on revenue.

  2. In the year of 2020, the global cargo industry dropped by 9.1% because of the COVID-19 Pandemic and it almost recovered in 2021. During the pandemic, the air freight rate fluctuated greatly. On the ranking list of 2021, American FedEx ranked first.

3. The COVID-19 Pandemic did not have a major influence on the global marine cargo industry. MAERSK of Denmark ranked first in the world in 2022.

  4. The COVID-19 did not have a major influence on the global railway cargo industry. American Union Pacific Railroad ranked first in 2022.

       5.The COVID-19 Pandemic had a major influence on the global railway passenger industry. In 2020, the volume decreased about 36% and it recovered in 2022.

      6.The COVID-19 Pandemic had a major influence on the global road freight transport revenue. In 2020, it decreased by 22% and it somewhat recovered in 2021. China ranked first in road freight transport.

On the ranking of “The 2nd Daguan·Keweiwei World Brand Value Top 900” released on January 13, 2022, American Delta Air Lines’ brand value was 135.998 billion RMB, ranking the 174th; Union Pacific Railroad’s brand value was 83.767 billion RMB, ranking the 329th; Fedex’s brand value was 73.761 billion RMB, ranking the 389th; MAERSK’s brand value was 38.229 billion RMB, ranking the 703rd.

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Author:   杨瑞安

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