L  L  News & Industry Affairs / IATA

  L      / 2022

In brief

• June 10. Air travel continues on recovery trend, Africa passenger traffic surges 116.2% YOY
• June 10. Strong international air traffic propels air travel recovery
• Published June 9. April Air Passenger Market Analysis
• June 8. IATA optimistic on air cargo despite current challenges
• Published June 8. April Air Freight Market Analysis
• May 6, 2022. Low vaccination rates take toll on African airlines
• Published May 4. March Air Passenger Market Analysis
• Published May 3. March Air Freight Market Analysis
• May 4,. Pent-up demand for air travel ‘finally being realised’ but IATA warns on airport delays
  
• May 4. IATA reports drop in global air cargo demand
  
• May 4. IATA: War in Ukraine, Omicron weigh on air cargo
  
• April 6. African airlines’ passenger capacity increased by 34.7% in February
• April 6. African airlines outperform global peers in air cargo growth
• Published April 6. February Air Passenger Market Analysis
• Published April 6. February Air Freight Market Analysis
  
• March 11. IATA: Omicron restrictions dinged January air recovery
• Published March 10. January Air Passenger Market Analysis
• Published March 9. January Air Freight Market Analysis
  
• March 1. IATA projects full air passenger recovery in 2024
  
• Published January 25. December 2021 Air Passenger Market Analysis 
  
• Published January 25. December 2021 Air Freight Market Analysis 
  
• February 1. New research shows EU travel restrictions had little impact on Omicron spread
• January 26. International airline body calls for countries to more rapidly lift travel restrictions
  
• January 25. Accelerate easing of travel restrictions
• January 7. Swift air travel recovery in South Africa as restrictions ease
  

  L      / 2022 

February 2022 IATA Air Passenger Market Analysis 
Published April 6, 2022. IATA Economic Reports.

Air travel accelerates 

Highlights

• Industry-wide revenue passenger-kilometers (RPKs) increased by 115.9% year-on-year (YoY) in February 2022. They were at 54.5% of February 2019 levels, better than in January but slightly below December 2021. Seasonally adjusted RPKs posted a strong increase on the month.
• The conflict in Ukraine only had a limited impact on air travel demand in February, as even travel within Europe or between Asia and Europe performed well. That said, the spread of Omicron in China, as well as elevated inflation and falling consumer confidence, will add to the challenges threatening the recovery.
• Ticket sales for future travel indeed point to a deterioration in domestic air travel, with resilient international traffic

African airlines’ capacity increased by 34.7% in February
African airlines recorded a 69.5 percent rise in February revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) compared to 2021. This represents a huge improvement compared to the 20.5 percent year-over-year increase recorded in January 2022 compared to the same month in 2021.

Air travel was buoyant in February

Air passenger traffic experienced a strong rebound in February as Omicron became less of a burden on societies outside of Asia. The conflict in Ukraine has not had a major impact on February traffic data. In February 2022, industry-wide revenue passengerkilometers (RPKs) grew by 115.9% year-on-year (YoY), but were still only at 54.5% of the levels of February 2019. The comparison with 2019 is better than that of January (50.6%) but below that of December 2021 (55.1%).
    The improvement is confirmed by seasonally adjusted (SA) RPKs, which increased by 12.4% month-on-month (MoM) in February. This follows a 6.1% MoM fall in January, but it looks as though Omicron only imposed a minor delay to the global air travel recovery...Download the full report.