Iata has announced a strong global traffic rebound YOY for February 2022, an improvement on the YOY rebound shown in January 2022. However, Africa’s rebound in that month was 40% below the global average.
Total global traffic in February 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometres, or RPKs) was up 115,9% compared with February 2021. That is an improvement on January 2022, which was up 83,1% compared with January 2021. However, traffic was down 45,5% in February 2022 compared with February 2019.
Africa was the poorest YOY performer for the month of February 2022. African airlines’ traffic rose only 69,5% in February 2022 over that of February 2021. European carriers saw a February YOY rise in traffic of 380,6%, Asia-Pacific airlines had a 144, 4% increase, Middle East 215,3%, North America 236,7% and Latin America 242,7%.
“The recovery in air travel is gathering steam as governments in many parts of the world lift travel restrictions. States that persist in attempting to lock-out the disease, rather than managing it, as we do with other diseases, risk missing out on the enormous economic and societal benefits that a restoration of international connectivity will bring,” said Willie Walsh, Iata Director General.
“As the long-awaited recovery in air travel accelerates, it is important that our infrastructure providers are prepared for a huge increase in passenger numbers in the coming months. The peak Northern summer travel season will be critical for jobs throughout the travel and tourism value chain.”
