IATA reports 78.7% jump in April passenger demand

June 10th 2022

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International Air Transport Association (IATA) director general, Willie Walsh, said overnight passenger travel data for April shows demand is rapidly returning to pre-COVID-19 levels. Read More » “With the lifting of many border restrictions, we are seeing a long expected surge in bookings as people make up for two years of lost travel opportunities,” Walsh said. “April data is cause for optimism in almost all markets except China, which continues to severely restrict travel.” Figures from the airline lobby group document passenger demand, measured by revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), rose 78.7% in April compared with the same month in 2021. Capacity, or available seat kilometres (ASK), was up 45.5% year-on-year. The Asia-Pacific was the only region in the IATA report to record a decline in RPKs (-17.9%) and ASKs (-25.3%). The regional data was weighed down by China's domestic market, which suffered an 80.8% drop in RPKs in April due to extended pandemic prevention lockdowns, particularly in Shanghai. China's domestic passenger load factor dropped 20.9 percentage points, to 55.8%, in April. “The experience of the rest of the world is demonstrating increased travel is manageable with high levels of population immunity and the normal systems for disease surveillance,” Walsh said. “We hope China can recognise this success soon and take its own steps towards normality.”