The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said today it is encouraged that passenger demand for airline travel continued to show strong growth in figures released for the month of June 2022.
But the numbers still aren't back to the benchmark year of 2019 that the industry uses to gauge its comeback from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic that gutted airlines in 2020 and 2021.
Total airline traffic in June 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was up 76.2 percent compared to June 2021, primarily propelled by the ongoing strong recovery in international traffic. Globally, traffic is now at 70.8 percent of pre-crisis levels.
Domestic traffic for June 2022 - described as travel between two destinations in the same country - was up 5.2 percent compared to the year-ago period.
"Demand for air travel remains strong. After two years of lockdowns and border restrictions people are taking advantage of the freedom to travel wherever they can," Willie Walsh, IATA's Director General, said in a statement.
But total June 2022 domestic traffic was at 81.4 percent of what it was in June 2019, meaning there's still much more to go before the entire industry gets back to 'normal.'
"With the Northern Hemisphere summer travel season now fully underway, predictions that the lifting of travel restrictions would unleash a torrent of pent-up travel demand are being borne out," said Walsh, who also acknowledged the issues airlines are having with delays and cancellations. "At the same time, meeting that demand has proved challenging and likely will continue to be so."
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