Global air travel will finally surpass pre-Covid levels in 2024, experts say

Global air travel volume is expected to finally exceed pre-Covid-19 levels in 2024 as the Asia-Pacific region makes a full recovery, said industry observers. Driven by sustained demand, this could make 2024 a banner year for airline profits. The industry made a dramatic recovery in 2022 and 2023, bouncing back from record pandemic-era losses to near-2019 levels. However, persistent supply issues and thin profit margins are among the obstacles to aviation’s strong showing. Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (Aapa) director-general Subhas Menon said: “In 2024, air travel recovery will be complete.” The IATA forecasts that in 2024, airlines will make US$25.7b in profits, on the back of a record US$964b in revenue. It expects all regions to hit pre-pandemic passenger levels by end-2023 – except for the Asia-Pacific, where full recovery is anticipated in early 2024. For 2023, global revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) are expected to be 38.4% higher than 2022, but still 4.8% short compared to 2019. Iata expects RPK to grow 9.8% in 2024, rising to 4.5% above 2019 levels. All this is based on a projected 4.7b air passengers in 2024, 9% more than the 4.5b in 2019.<br/>