A message from the Executive Organising Committee
Long Version
The air transportation sector has a pro-cyclical relationship with economic growth; when the global economy is strong, air transport has grown and prospered and when the global economy is subject to negative shocks, air transport suffers too.
Historically, there have been many negative shocks from military conflict, macroeconomic downturns, terrorism and pandemics which have significantly affected the air transport sector; however the industry has remained resilient as indicated in the figure below. The graph illustrates the growth in global air passengers carried from 1970-2018 (World Bank) and indicates that although these negative shocks to the industry have caused economic pain and disruption, they have not had a lasting impact on the long-term trend of growth in air travel.
FIGURE 1: Global air passengers carried (billions) 1970-2018
Source: World bank
The current coronavirus pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented shock to global air transportation; one that has sadly necessitated the postponement of the next European Aviation Conference until November 2021.
However, as the graph reminds us, there will be a recovery and many important aviation issues to study and discuss at our next conference. The dramatic trajectory of the growing air transport sector was behind the theme of the conference we had planned for this year; aviation and environmental emissions. The issues raised by concerns over the contributions of aviation to global warming will not disappear when the world begins to recover from the current pandemic, however there is currently a great deal of uncertainty about almost every aspect of how the aviation industry will recover (operations, finances, employment, government policy, air travel demand).
For this reason, the Conference Organising Committee will continue to monitor events as they unfold and expects to announce details of the 2021 European Aviation Conference in the autumn of 2020. In the meantime we are exploring alternative (online) platforms to discuss research, industry challenges and opportunities and government policies. For the 1st G.A.R.S. Online Panel Discussion on how the Coronavirus outbreak affects the future of aviation see www.garsonline.de.
To all our colleagues and friends in the aviation industry, government agencies and academia; we wish you and your families health and safety in the coming months and look forward to seeing you at EAC 2021.
Please remain in contact by means of our website www.eac-conference.com
April 2020.