Air travel sees strong demand recovery : IATA

Geneva : The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the recovery in air travel slowed for both domestic and international in January 2022 compared to December 2021, owing to the imposition of travel restrictions following the emergence of Omicron last November.
Total demand for air travel in January 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was up 82.3 per cent compared to January 2021. However, it was down 4.9 per cent compared to the previous month (December 2021) on a seasonally adjusted basis.
January domestic air travel was up 41.5 per cent compared to the year-ago period but fell 7.2 per cent compared to December 2021 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
International RPKs rose 165.6 per cent versus January 2021 but fell by 2.2 per cent month-on-month between December 2021 and January 2022 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
2022 vs 2019
Despite the strong traffic growth recorded in January 2022 compared to a year ago, passenger demand remains far below pre-Covid-19 levels. Total RPKs in January were down 49.6 per cent compared to January 2019. International traffic was down 62.4 per cent, with domestic traffic off by 26.5 per cent.
Russia-Ukraine conflict
January figures do not include any impact from the Russia-Ukraine conflict which began at the end of February. The resulting sanctions and airspace closures are expected to have a negative impact on travel, primarily among neighbouring countries.
The Ukraine market accounted for 3.3 per cent of European passenger traffic and 0.8 per cent of global traffic in 2021.
The Russian international market represented 5.7 per cent of European traffic (excluding Russia domestic market) and 1.3 per cent of global traffic in 2021.
Airspace closures have led to rerouting or cancellations of flights on some routes, mostly in the Europe-Asia but also in Asia-North America market. This impact is mitigated owing to greatly diminished flight activity since borders in Asia were largely closed owing to Covid-19. In addition to these disruptions, the sudden spike in fuel prices is putting pressure on airline costs.