Global international passenger travel grew by 64.4% last year as the world continued its recovery from the pandemic, new figures from aviation industry group the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show.
December, alone, saw a near 40% year-on-year increase in international travel numbers.
Overall, global travel is now back to 68.5% of pre-pandemic, 2019, levels.
That figure should recover fully this year due to China reopening its borders for inbound and outbound travel.
“The industry left 2022 in far stronger shape than it entered, as most governments lifted COVID-19 travel restrictions during the year and people took advantage of the restoration of their freedom to travel. This momentum is expected to continue in the New Year, despite some governments’ over-reactions to China’s re-opening,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Mr Walsh said: “Let us hope that 2022 becomes known as the year in which governments locked away, forever, the regulatory shackles that kept their citizens earthbound for so long. It is vital that governments learn the lesson that travel restrictions and border closures have little positive impact in terms of slowing the spread of infectious diseases in our globally inter-connected world. However, they have an enormous negative impact on people’s lives and livelihoods, as well as on the global economy that depends on the unfettered movement of people and goods.”
International traffic in 2022 climbed 152.7% versus 2021 and reached 62.2% of 2019 levels. Domestic traffic for 2022 rose 10.9% compared to the prior year; 2022 domestic traffic was at 79.6% of the full year 2019 level.
