Despite the war in Ukraine and travel restrictions in China, international demand for air travel continues to fuel the sector's strong recovery, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA)

“With the lifting of many border restrictions, we are seeing the long-expected surge in bookings as people seek to make up for two years of lost travel opportunities," IATA Director General Willie Walsh underscored.

"Two years of border restrictions have not weakened the desire for the freedom to travel. Where it is permitted, demand rapidly is returning to pre-COVID levels," he pointed out.

IATA's April 2022 passenger data is cause for optimism in almost all markets, except China, which continues to severely restrict travel, the Director General maintained.

The experience of the rest of the world is demonstrating that increased travel is manageable with high levels of population immunity and the normal systems for disease surveillance," says Walsh.

However, it is also evident that the failings in how governments managed the pandemic have continued into the recovery, he warned.

"With governments making U-turns and policy changes there was uncertainty until the last minute, leaving little time to restart an industry that was largely dormant for two years. It is no wonder that we are seeing operational delays in some locations."

Total demand for air travel in April 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was up 78.7 percent compared to April 2021 and slightly ahead of March 2022’s 76.0 percent year-over-year increase.

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April domestic air travel was down 1.0 percent compared to the year-ago period, a reversal from the 10.6 percent demand rise in March.

This was driven entirely by continuing strict travel restrictions in China, where domestic traffic was down 80.8 percent year-to-year. Overall, April domestic traffic was down 25.8 percent versus April 2019.

International RPKs rose 331.9 percent versus April 2021, an acceleration over the 289.9 percent rise in March 2022 compared to a year ago.

Several route areas are actually above pre-pandemic levels, including Europe – Central America, Middle East – North America and North America – Central America.

April 2022 international RPKs were down 43.4 percent compared to the same month in 2019.

Specifically, Asia-Pacific airlines saw their April international traffic climb 290.8 percent compared to April 2021, significantly improved on the 197.2 percent gain registered in March 2022 versus March 2021.

Capacity rose 88.6 percent and the load factor was up 34.6 percentage points to 66.8 percent, still the lowest among regions.

Middle Eastern airlines had a 265.0 percent demand rise in April compared to April 2021, bettering the 252.7 percent increase in March 2022, versus the same month in 2021.

April capacity rose 101.0 percent versus the year-ago period, and load factor climbed 32.2 percentage points to 71.7 percent.

European carriers’ showed the highest surge with April international traffic rosing 480.0 percent versus April 2021.

It was substantially up over the 434.3 percent increase in March 2022 versus the same month in 2021.

Capacity rose 233.5 percent and load factor climbed 33.7 percentage points to 79.4 percent.

North American carriers’ April traffic rose 230.2 percent versus the 2021 period, slightly above the 227.9 percent rise in March 2022 compared to March 2021.

Capacity rose 98.5 percent, and load factor climbed 31.6 percentage points to 79.3 percent.

Latin American airlines experienced a 263.2 percent rise in April traffic, compared to the same month in 2021, exceeding the 241.2 percent rise in March 2022 over March 2021.

April capacity rose 189.1 percent and load factor increased 16.8 percentage points to 82.3 percent, which easily was the highest load factor among the regions for the 19th consecutive month.

African airlines’ traffic rose 116.2 percent in April 2022 versus a year ago, an acceleration over the 93.3 percent year-over-year increase recorded in March 2022.

April 2022 capacity was up 65.7 percent and load factor climbed 15.7 percentage points to 67.3 percent.