Middle Eastern airlines witnessed a 265 per cent demand rise in April compared to April 2021, bettering the 252.7 per cent increase in March 2022, against the same month in 2021, according to a new report.
The April capacity rose 101.0 per cent against the year-ago period, and the load factor climbed 32.2 percentage points to 71.7 per cent, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its latest report.
“IATA announced that air travel resumed its strong recovery trend in April, despite the war in Ukraine and travel restrictions in China. This was driven primarily by international demand.”
Total demand for air travel in April 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) was up 78.7 per cent compared to April 2021 and slightly ahead of March 2022’s 76.0 per cent year-over-year increase, the IATA report said.
April domestic air travel was down 1.0 per cent compared to the year-ago period, a reversal from the 10.6 per cent demand rise in March. This was driven entirely by continuing strict travel restrictions in China, where domestic traffic was down 80.8 per cent year-to-year. Overall, April domestic traffic was down 25.8 per cent versus April 2019.
International RPKs rose 331.9 per cent versus April 2021, an acceleration over the 289.9 per cent rise in March 2022 compared to a year ago. Several route areas are actually above pre-pandemic levels, including Europe – Central America, Middle East – North America and North America – Central America. April 2022 international RPKs were down 43.4 per cent compared to the same month in 2019.
“With the lifting of many border restrictions, we are seeing the long-expected surge in bookings as people seek to make up for two years of lost travel opportunities. April data is cause for optimism in almost all markets, except China, which continues to severely restrict travel,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, International Passenger Markets.
“The experience of the rest of the world is demonstrating that increased travel is manageable with high levels of population immunity and the normal systems for disease surveillance. We hope that China can recognise this success soon and take its steps towards normality,” he added.
International passenger markets
European carriers’ April international traffic rose 480.0 per cent versus April 2021, substantially up over the 434.3 per cent increase in March 2022 versus the same month in 2021. Capacity rose 233.5 per cent and load factor climbed 33.7 percentage points to 79.4 per cent.
Asia-Pacific airlines saw their April international traffic climb 290.8 per cent compared to April 2021, significantly improved on the 197.2 per cent gain registered in March 2022 versus March 2021. Capacity rose 88.6 per cent and the load factor was up 34.6 percentage points to 66.8 per cent, still the lowest among regions.
North American carriers’ April traffic rose 230.2 per cent versus the 2021 period, slightly above the 227.9 per cent rise in March 2022 compared to March 2021. Capacity rose 98.5 per cent, and load factor climbed 31.6 percentage points to 79.3 per cent.
Latin American airlines experienced a 263.2 per cent rise in April traffic, compared to the same month in 2021, exceeding the 241.2 per cent rise in March 2022 over March 2021. April capacity rose 189.1 per cent and the load factor increased 16.8 percentage points to 82.3 per cent, which easily was the highest load factor among the regions for the 19th consecutive month.
African airlines’ traffic rose 116.2 per cent in April 2022 versus a year ago, an acceleration over the 93.3 per cent year-over-year increase recorded in March 2022. April 2022 capacity was up 65.7 per cent and load factor climbed 15.7 percentage points to 67.3 per cent, the IATA report said.
Source: Civil Aviation Authority – Qatar