The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents some 290 airlines comprising 83% of global air traffic, has released data showing the growing momentum in the recovery of air travel as restrictions are lifted.
There has been a sharp 11-percentage point increase for international tickets sold in the recent weeks compared to 2019 sales. The 7 day moving average in the period around 8 February showed tickets sold stood at 49% of the same period in 2019. In the 7 day moving average for the period around 25 January, the number of tickets sold stood at 38% of the same period in 2019. The 11-percentage point improvement between the January and February periods is the fastest such increase for any two-week period since the crisis began.
More governments are announcing the relaxation of COVID-19 border restrictions leading to a jump in ticket sales. Some of the countries that announced relaxations around the world include Australia, France, the Philippines, the UK, Switzerland and Sweden.
IATA has conducted a survey of travel restrictions for the world’s top 50 air travel markets comprising 92% of global demand in 2019 as measured by revenue passenger kilometres. The IATA survey of travel restrictions is based on data contained in IATA’s TIMATIC service, the most authoritative collection of entry requirements for international travel. 18 markets comprising around 20% of 2019 demand are open to vaccinated travellers without quarantine or pre-departure test requirements. 28 markets are open to vaccinated travellers without quarantine requirements including the 18 markets above. This is about 50% of the 2019 demand. 37 markets comprising about 60% of the 2019 demand are open to vaccinated travellers under varying conditions. 18 have no restrictions, others require testing or quarantine or both.
The top 50 air travel markets are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam.
IATA continues to call for:
- Removing all travel barriers including quarantine and testing for those fully vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine,
- Enabling quarantine-free travel for non-vaccinated travellers with a negative pre-departure antigen test result,
- Removing travel bans, and,
- Accelerating the easing of travel restrictions in recognition that travellers pose no greater risk for COVID-19 spread than already exists in the general population.
“Momentum toward normalising traffic is growing. Vaccinated travellers have the potential to travel much more extensively with fewer hassles than even a few weeks ago. This is giving growing numbers of travellers the confidence to buy tickets. And that is good news! Now we need to further accelerate the removal of travel restrictions. While recent progress is impressive, the world remains far from 2019 levels of connectivity. Thirteen of the top 50 travel markets still do not provide easy access to all vaccinated travelers. That includes major economies like China, Japan, Russia, Indonesia, and Italy. Travel restrictions have had a severe impact on people and on economies. They have not, however, stopped the spread of the virus. And it is time for their removal as we learn to live and travel in a world that will have risks of COVID-19 for the foreseeable future. This means putting a stop to the singling out of the travelling population for special measures. In nearly all cases, travellers don’t bring any more risk to a market than is already there. Many governments have recognised this already and removed restrictions. Many more need to follow.”
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
