Digest Omicron hits passenger demand IATA announced full-year global passenger traffic results for 2021 showing that demand (revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) fell 58.4% compared with the full year of 2019. But this was an improvement compared with 2020, when full-year RPKs were down 65.8% versus 2019. International passenger demand in 2021 was 75.5% below 2019 levels. Capacity (measured in available seat kilometers or ASKs) declined 65.3% and load factor fell 24 percentage points to 58%. Domestic demand in 2021 was down 28.2% compared with 2019. Capacity contracted 19.2% and load factor dropped 9.3 percentage points to 74.3%.
around 56.5% below 2019 levels. Instead, volumes rose only marginally to 58.4% below 2019, from -60.5% in November. “Overall travel demand strengthened in 2021. That trend continued into December despite travel restrictions in the face of Omicron,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General. “That says a lot about the strength of passenger confidence and the desire to travel. The challenge for 2022 is to reinforce that confidence by normalizing travel. France and Switzerland [recently] announced significant easing of measures. The United Kingdom has removed all testing requirements for vaccinated travelers. We hope others will follow their important lead.”
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Total traffic for the month of December 2021 was 45.1% below the same month in 2019, improved from the 47% contraction in November, as monthly demand continued to recover despite concerns over Omicron. Capacity was down 37.6% and load factor fell 9.8 percentage points to 72.3%. Omicron travel restrictions slowed the recovery in international demand by about two weeks in December. International demand has been recovering at a pace of about four percentage points/month compared with 2019. Without Omicron, international demand for the month of December was expected to improve to
Airlines 2022 – 01
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airlines.iata.org
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