Global air traffic reached 68.5% of its pre-Covid-19 pandemic level in 2022, marked by a significant rebound in international traffic and strong regional disparities, the International Transport Association announced on Monday. aerial (Iata). Measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), one of the benchmarks for the industry, domestic traffic climbed 10.9% from a year earlier. Domestic routes have returned to 79.6% of their 2019 level, the last full year before the pandemic which led to multiple travel restrictions around the world, according to statistics published by the body bringing together 300 airlines, representing 83% of global traffic.
Asia-Pacific down
Domestic traffic is on track to regain its pre-crisis level in Latin America (-0.5% compared to 2019), Europe (-3.1%), and North America (-6.3 %) but remains behind in Asia-Pacific (-40.3%) due to prolonged travel restrictions and in particular within the imposing Chinese market.
The “zero Covid” policy which continued in China until the beginning of December led Iata that month to revise downwards the estimate of passenger traffic for the year at the global level, to 70.6 % of 2019 level, vs. 82.4% previously expected. It should return to 85.5% of the pre-crisis level in 2023, according to her. International traffic, which was the most affected, was multiplied by 2.5 in 2022 and reached 62.2% of its 2019 level. Here again, if most continents have recovered three quarters of their traffic pre-crisis international market, Asia-Pacific is still down 68.2% compared to 2019.
A healthier industry
“The industry left 2022 in much better shape than it entered it, as most governments lifted Covid-19 travel restrictions during the year and people enjoyed the restoration of their freedom to travel,” said Iata director general Willie Walsh. “This momentum is likely to continue into the new year despite some governments’ overreactions to China’s reopening,” he said. Many countries have imposed Covid tests on travelers from China, where there was a major epidemic rebound after the end of restrictions, a practice deemed “impulsive” and “ineffective” by Iata.