In the past twenty years, the airline industry in the United Kingdom changed significantly. Some British airlines, such as Monarch Airlines, Flybe, or Thomas Cook, stopped operating, and others were able to become even more profitable. However, despite greater profits, the
decreased in the past years to 64.379 employees in 2021. This was mainly driven by the coronavirus pandemic, which has had significant negative impacts on the British aviation industry. Travel restrictions and local lockdowns caused a substantial drop from roughly 154 million passengers to 32.4 passengers in 2020 in the country.
British Airways' fight for survival
Flag carrier British Airways Plc, established by the government following the creation of the British Airways Board in 1974, took a big hit in 2020 due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
Revenue streams reached only 3.9 billion British pounds worldwide, a 70 percent drop from the previous year, and posted for the first time in the last ten years a
profit loss of 3.5 billion British pounds. However, the company has been on its rebound path since the last months of 2020. As of 2022, the revenue of British Airways jumped from 3.7 billion to 11 billion GDP. Consecutively, the reported net profit amounted to 61 million GDP.
UK’s Jet Zero Plan
The
aviation industry is one of the most polluting sectors worldwide, emitting 547 million metric tons of CO
2 in 2021. The countries trying to transform the industry to be able to catch net zero targets decided in the Paris Agreement by 2050, and the British aviation industry is no exception. The UK’s
Jet Zero Plan aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions gradually from 38.2 registered in 2019 to 19.3 by 2050. According to the plan, the industry focuses mainly on fuel efficiency and using renewable fuels, known as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), to power existing British aircraft.
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