According to trade association data, passenger traffic increased 57 percent in September compared to 2021 as the global aviation industry continues to recover from the pandemic.
As passengers raced back to fly once COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted, passenger traffic in September increased to 74% of pre-pandemic levels, according to figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released on Monday.The highest increase in travel was by far seen in the Asia Pacific, where border restrictions were gradually lifted later than in other regions. Passenger traffic increased 465 percent from the previous year in this region.
In an effort to rebuild their pandemic-devastated travel sectors, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan recently relaxed border restrictions. The region's largest economy by a wide margin, China, continues to prohibit non-essential travel for its nationals and impose a 10-day quarantine on all arrivals as part of its rigid "dynamic zero COVID" policy.
North American and Latin American airlines saw traffic increase by 129 percent and 99 percent, respectively, while Middle Eastern airlines experienced the next-largest increase in passenger traffic, at 150 percent.
Traffic on African flights increased by 91%, while traffic on European airlines increased by 78%.
When domestic and international travel are separated, foreign travel increased by 122% while domestic travel increased by 7%.
While still somewhat below pre-pandemic levels, worldwide air freight demand dropped 11% from September 2021 to September 2022 as a result of sluggish economic development and recession fears.
In light of current economic and geopolitical uncertainty, IATA Director General Willie Walsh hailed the results as encouraging news for international aviation.
"China remains the anomaly," Walsh said. "Its pursuit of a zero-COVID strategy keeps borders fully closed and creates a demand roller coaster for its internal market, with September being down 46.4 percent on the previous year."That stands in stark contrast to the rest of Asia Pacific, which achieved a 464.8 percent growth in international traffic compared to the same time last year, despite China's poor result.
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