The Impacts of COVID-19 on Domestic Aviation in Finland and the Potential Role of Electric Aircraft for a Green Recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a major downturn in the aviation industry that has not only affected international flights but also domestic aviation. Airlines have adjusted their timetables accordingly, but load factors have remained low. This has resulted in a loss of profitability and a large increase of greenhouse gas emissions of individual air passengers. In order to prevent airlines from closing routes, governments have provided subsidies. However, these subsidies are in sharp contrast with the climate goals of many countries. This study explores the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the domestic aviation sector in Finland based on actual passenger and landing data. It takes the changes in environmental impacts resulting from the demand shift cause by the pandemic into account. In addition, this study considers the replacement of existing aircraft with those powered electrically, in order to address the significant drop in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide an alternative for a green recovery from the pandemic. Finally, based on our findings we provide a series of policy recommendations.