Passengers requiring assistance services in airports have demonstrated year- on-year growth since the introduction of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006. 2020 promised to be another year of sustained growth. However, the outbreak, and ongoing repercussions of COVID-19 effectively placed the world of air travel on pause, and as a consequence the positive PRM traffic trend, for the first time, retracted. COVID-19 has presented unique challenges and a fundamental question: «How will COVID-19 impact PRM travel in the short, medium and long term». In an attempt to gain clarity, we must first look at the initial travel behaviour of PRMs, which presents us with the question this report addresses: «How has PRM traffic faired against the total passenger traffic in the first two quarters of 2020?

In this report Ozion Airport Software compares PRM traffic at 9 European Airports against published passenger traffic. Comparing PRM traffic from January to July 2020 against the 2019 rates reveals a significant trend. January 2020 saw PRM traffic representing an overall 0.07% growth over 2019 demonstrating the anticipated PRM growth trend for the months ahead. February saw a stable rate (+0.01%). However, upon the outbreak, and the consequential repercussions, of COVID-19 a significant change in PRM and passengers numbers can be observed…