Air Travel Recovery Lags in Asia and Africa

According to information by the International Air Transport Association, air travel recovery from Covid-19 is still lagging behind majorly in Asia compared to other regions as of this year. Air passenger numbers are expected to pick up in 2023 and 2024, however, when Asia Pacific is projected to overtake Africa for recovery process. The two continents as well as the Middle East are not expected to reach or surpass 2019 passenger levels as of 2024.

North and South America were the regions showing the fastest recovery as of 2022, with Europe projected to slide into second place by 2024. Air travel recovery in the Middle East also made huge strides this year, progressing much faster than in Asia, where cautious behavior, for example by Japan, as well as China’s reluctance to let go of its zero Covid strategy are putting a damper on passenger numbers.

According to IATA, the development had cost Asia Pacific the title of biggest air travel market as of last year. According to the data, 32.6 percent of revenue passenger kilometers were accumulated in North America in 2021, compared to 27.5 percent in Asia Pacific and 24.9 percent in Europe. In 2019, Asia Pacific had been the only region taking up more than 30 percent of global air travel demand, a fact that initially had become even more pronounced in 2020 as Europe and then North American became the epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic.

For 2022, regional organizations are coming to the same conclusion for sheer passenger numbers, with the Airport Council International Asia-Pacific recently announcing that Asia was not the going to be the world’s largest travel market in terms of passenger journeys anymore.