Asia still bottom of the global recovery league reports IATA

April 1st 2022

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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced earlier this month air travel experienced a strong rebound in February 2022 compared with January 2022, as Omicron-related impacts moderated outside of Asia. Read More » The war in Ukraine, which began on February 24, did not have a major impact on traffic levels, IATA said.

Total traffic in February 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was up 115.9% compared with February 2021, an improvement from January 2022, which increased 83.1% over January 2021. But compared with February 2019, traffic was down 45.5%. 

The global airline association said February 2022 domestic traffic rose by 60.7% compared with the year-ago period, building on a 42.6% increase in January 2022 over January 2021. Overall, domestic traffic in February was 21.8% below the volumes of February 2019.

International RPKs rose 256.8% versus February 2021, recording a 165.5% year-over-year increase in January 2022 against the year-earlier period. All regions improved their performance compared with a month earlier, but February 2022 international RPKs were down 59.6% against the same days in 2019.

“The recovery in air travel is gathering steam as governments in many parts of the world lift travel restrictions. States that persist in attempting to lock out the disease, rather than managing it, as we do with other diseases, risk missing out on the enormous economic and societal benefits that a restoration of international connectivity will bring,” said IATA director general, Willie Walsh.

Asia-Pacific airlines recorded a 144.4% rise in February traffic compared with a year ago, “up somewhat over the 125.8% gain registered in January 2022 versus January 2021. Capacity rose 60.8% and load factor was up 16.1 percentage points to 47.0%, the lowest among regions”, IATA said.

“As the long-awaited recovery in air travel accelerates, it is important our infrastructure providers are prepared for a huge increase in passenger numbers in the coming months. We are already seeing reports of unacceptably long lines at some airports owing to the growing number of travellers,” Walsh said.

“And that is even before the surge of Easter holiday travel in many markets. The peak Northern summer travel season will be critical for jobs throughout the travel and tourism value chain. Now is the time to prepare. Governments can help by ensuring border positions are staffed adequately and background security checks for new staff are managed as efficiently as possible.”