A report by travel analytics firm ForwardKeys has shown that the recent Israel-Hamas conflict has negatively affected flight bookings on a global scale, not just those to and from the Middle East.
According to the report, global flight bookings had decreased by five percentage points in the three weeks following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel when compared with pre-COVID pandemic levels.
Looking at outbound flights, bookings from the Middle East had fallen by nine percentage points, while those from the Americas had decreased by 10 percentage points, and those from Asia Pacific, Europe (including Israel), and Africa decreased by two percentage points.
From an inbound perspective, bookings to all regions had decreased with the exception of Africa, which continues to recover towards pre-pandemic levels. Bookings to the Americas are down six percentage points, to Asia Pacific are down one percentage point, and to the Middle East are down 26 percentage points.
Within the Middle East, Israel has been the most affected, with many airlines having cancelled flights. In the period since October 7, flight booking fell by 155 percentage points, indicating that, in addition to there being no new bookings, cancellations have also depleted the existing stock of bookings.
Israel is followed by Saudi Arabia, which was down 67 percentage points. Jordan was down 54 percentage points while Lebanon dropped 45 percentage points, and Egypt 35 percentage points.
