Air traffic continues to recover from the low points of the pandemic.
On February 6th, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its analysis of air traffic throughout 2022. IATA announced that total air traffic continued to grow throughout the year and continued its growth in December 2022. Air traffic is measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs).
The IATA represents over 300 airlines that make up 83% of global air traffic.
Air traffic keeps climbing compared to recent years
The IATA reported that international traffic reached 152.7% of the 2021 levels in 2022. The increase in 2021 matches 62.9% of international traffic in 2019. Domestic traffic increased by 10.9% from 2021. This was about 79.6% of the 2019 traffic levels. Combined, the total air traffic in 2022 increased by 64.4% compared with 2021 levels. This increase reaches 68.5% of the total traffic recorded in 2019, showing a consistent recovery as the aviation industry looks to continue working toward reaching pre-pandemic levels. IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh, stated,
The biggest movers in the international passenger markets were the Asia-Pacific airlines. The group posted a 363.3% year-over-year rise from 2021 to 2022. The increase in Asia-Pacific was capped off by a December increase of 302.7% compared with 2021. This growth was thanks to many re-openings of economies in the region, and the outlook continues to be bright due thanks to ongoing relaxation of travel restrictions.
The remaining markets all posted year-over-year increases in passenger traffic. Middle Eastern carriers increased by 157.4%, North American airlines rose by 130.2%, the European region increased by 132.2%, Latin American carriers grew by 119.2%, and African airlines posted a traffic increase of 89.8%.
All of these increases show a continuation of growth as the airline industry continues to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Passenger traffic overall was 41.7% in 2019 and is now at 68.5% in 2022. International traffic was still able to bypass 2021 levels, even with frequent setbacks due to lingering travel restrictions from various countries all over the world.
As these travel restrictions continue to subside, air traffic levels will likely continue to grow and eventually reach the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.