Global airline passenger traffic closes to within 4% of pre-Covid levels

Global airline passenger traffic was at 96.1% of 2019 levels in May this year, as the industry neared parity with pre-Covid levels of demand after three years of deficit. The latest data from airline industry association IATA continues to reflect the rapid recovery trend seen this year, with traffic having been at 76.9% of 2019 levels as 2022 ended. Measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), traffic in global domestic markets was 5.3% above 2019 levels in May – outpacing pre-pandemic data for the second month in a row – with international traffic at 90.8% of pre-Covid levels. The latter metric has risen sharply since the turn of the year, thanks to the reopening of the key China market. Still, Asia-Pacific carriers continue to lag pre-crisis RPKs the most, at 15% down in May (albeit that number had been -43.5% as recently as December 2022). In contrast, Middle Eastern carriers saw their RPKs surge to 16.2% above 2019 levels in May, IATA data shows. That is, however, partly explained by runway closures at Dubai International airport in May 2019, which restricted flights and therefore artificially inflate the 2023 comparison. Middle Eastern carrier RPKs had been 12.1% down versus pre-Covid levels in April. North American carriers also saw traffic above pre-crisis levels, at 2.1% up in May, in a more reliable reflection of recent recovery trends. <br/>