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Asia-Pacific recovery the slowest of all regions global airport association predicts
February 28th 2022
Airports Council International (ACI) World said the Asia-Pacific will lag other regions in recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More » The ACI's latest quarterly forecast said there will be about 6.5 billion passengers globally in calendar 2022, representing a 28.9% decline from 2019 levels. The Asia-Pacific is predicted to transport 1.95 billion passengers for the period, some 1.87 billion fewer passengers than in 2019. "Despite a projected reopening of most Asia-Pacific countries to international passengers in the second half of 2022, the region is expected to have the slowest recovery," ACI said. "The region’s traffic momentum was weakened in the second half of 2021 by the resurgence of the pandemic – resulting in the Asia-Pacific recording the worst performance of all regions. Many countries in the region have some of the most stringent travel restrictions on international travel," it said. Global air traffic declined by 55%, or 5.4 billon passengers in 2021 compared with 2019 levels, the airport association said. "The industry remains confident the potential for a recovery to 2019 levels within two or three years is foreseeable," ACI World director general, Luis Felipe de Oliveira, said.
