Air travel shows a strong recovery during July

IATA´s latest report indicate that the sector is making solid progress compared to the previous year

According to a report released this Wednesday, total traffic in July 2022 (measured in revenue passenger-kilometres or RPK) increased by almost 59 percent compared to July 2021. Globally, flights are at 74.6 percent higher than pre-crisis levels.

Domestic traffic for 2022 was up 4.1 percent compared to the same period a year earlier and is now recovering. The 2022 total was nearly 87 percent higher than the July 2019 level. Notably, China saw a strong month-on-month improvement compared to June.

As for the international situation, the report indicates an increase of 150.6 percent compared to 2021. International RPKs for 2022 reached around 68 percent of July 2019 levels. All markets registered strong growth, headed for the Asia-Pacific region.

Asia-Pacific airlines posted a more than 500 percent increase in July traffic compared to the same period in 2021, marking the strongest year-on-year rate among regions. Capacity increased nearly 160 percent and load factor rose 47.1 percentage points to 80.2 percent.

European carriers saw July traffic increase 115.6 percent compared to 2021. Capacity rose 64.3 percent and load factor climbed 20.6 percentage points to 86.7 percent, the second highest among regions.

Middle Eastern airline traffic rose 193 percent in July compared to 2021. Capacity rose 84.1 percent and load factor rose 30.5 percentage points to 82.0 percent.

North American carriers saw a 129 percent increase in traffic compared to the prior year period. Capacity rose nearly 80 percent and load factor rose 19.4 percentage points to 90.3 percent, the highest among regions for the second month.

Regarding Latin American airlines, July traffic this year increased 119.4 percent compared to the same month in 2021. July capacity increased 92.3 percent and load factor increased 10.5 percentage points to 85.2 percent.

African airlines saw an increase of around 85 per cent in July RPKs compared to a year ago. July 2022 capacity increased 46.7 percent and load factor rose 15.5 percentage points to 75.0 percent, the lowest among regions.

The International Air Transport Association warns that the current report compares traffic data year over year and not in relation to the 2019 period, so some markets could show very high year-on-year growth rates compared to 2021, even if the size of these markets It is still lower than in 2019.

“July’s performance continued to be strong, with some markets approaching pre-COVID levels. And that’s even with capacity constraints in parts of the world that were unprepared for the speed at which people were once again traveling. There is still more ground to be made up, but this is an excellent sign as we head into the traditionally slower fall and winter quarters in the Northern Hemisphere,” said Willie Walsh, IATA Director General.

Source: Twitter @IATA