Air travel demand in the Middle East registered a whopping jump of over 238 percent in April over the same period in 2021, which also saw the aviation sector recording a bounce back globally with a 79 percent rise.
The Middle East carriers posted a 265 percent demand rise in April over the year ago period, bettering the 252.7 percent increase in March 2022, versus the same month in 2021.
The Middle East airlines’ April capacity also saw a jump of 101 percent over the year-ago period, and their load factor climbed 32.2 percentage points to 71.7 percent in April 2022, according to the latest International Air Transport Association (IATA) data.
The available seat kilometres (ASK) – a measure of an airline’s carrying capacity to generate revenue – clocked by Middle East carriers also saw a sharp rise of 91.3 percent over the year ago period.
IATA said the demand for international air travel – measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs – shot up by close to 79 percent in April over the same period in 2021.
The European carriers posted the highest rise in international traffic in April with a rise of 480 percent over the same month in 202.
This was a substantial jump over the 434.3 percent increase in March 2022 versus the same month in 2021 for the European carriers, IATA data revealed.
The global April air travel demand, however, was only a marginal uptick from the March 2022 year-on-year figure of 76 percent, the IATA data showed.
Significantly, 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.
“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,” IATA said.
“April data is cause for optimism in almost all markets, except China, which continues to severely restrict travel,” the industry body added.
IATA, however, cautioned too much into the reading of the latest growth figures in air travel demand, as it is based on the low base of 2021 – the pandemic period which saw air travel demand nose diving due to severe travel restrictions globally and limited flights.
The domestic air travel demand in April this year, however, was down by a percent, compared to the year-ago period, a reversal from the 10.6 percent demand rise in March.
IATA said this was driven entirely by continuing strict travel restrictions in China, where domestic traffic was down 80.8 percent compared on an annual basis.
Overall, April domestic traffic was down 25.8 percent, compared to that of April 2019.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, said the experience of the rest of the world was demonstrating that increased travel is manageable with high levels of population immunity and the normal systems for disease surveillance.
“We hope that China can recognize this success soon and take its own steps towards normality,” he said.
The IATA data showed international RPKs rose 331.9 percent versus April 2021, an acceleration over the 289.9 percent year-on-year rise in March 2022.
IATA said several route areas were above pre-pandemic levels, including Europe – Central America, Middle East – North America and North America – Central America.
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