Demand for air travel is continuing to grow, with latest figures showing further improvement in global air passenger numbers.
According to aviation industry group the International Air Transport Association (IATA), total air passenger traffic grew by 55.5% in February compared to the same month last year.
Domestic traffic grew by just over 25%, year-on-year, but international passenger traffic surged by nearly 90% – with all geographic regions seeing strong growth.
The latest monthly figures from IATA mean that global air traffic is now at just under 85% of February 2019 levels, which was nearly a year before the Covid crisis hit the global tourism and travel industries.
“Despite the uncertain economic signals, demand for air travel continues to be strong across the globe and particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The industry is now just about 15% below 2019 levels of demand and that gap is narrowing each month,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
“People are flying in ever greater numbers. With the Easter and Passover holidays we are expecting large numbers of travellers to take to the skies in many parts of the world. They should do so with confidence that airlines have been rebuilding resiliency that suffered owing to the pandemic. Other participants in the air travel value chain, including airports, air navigation service providers, and airport security staff, need to have the same commitment to ensuring our customers can enjoy smooth holiday travel,” said Mr Walsh.
