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Asia-Pacific passenger traffic significantly behind in October as global figures improve
December 6th 2021
Passenger traffic continued to recover in October but the Asia-Pacific remained well behind other regions. Read More » The latest International Air Transport Association (IATA) figures showed total demand for air travel in October, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, was down 49.4% compared with October 2019. The figures are an improvement over the 53.3% fall recorded in September. However, the Asia-Pacific figures for the month were 66.4% lower than the same month in 2019 and the worst recorded result of any region. The disparity was even greater when it came to international traffic. Global international demand was 65.5% below the same month two years ago, but international traffic in the Asia-Pacific was down by 92.8%. The Asia-Pacific numbers were a slight improvement over the September figure of a 93.1% fall compared with September 2019. “October’s traffic performance reinforces that people will travel when they are permitted to,’’ said IATA director-general, Willie Walsh. “Unfortunately, government responses to the emergence of the Omicron variant are putting at risk the global connectivity it has taken so long to rebuild.”
