On the ascent

Yesterday we traveled internationally by air with several colleagues from a busy airport in a full plane. It all seemed back to normal after the Covid-19 pandemic brought air travel to a halt. However, data from IATA shows international air passenger numbers are still not back to levels seen in 2019, but rather 12% below. This is not just driven by China that opened up late and where international air travel capacity is still low. International air travel from and to Europe, the Americas and Africa is about 5% below 2019 levels. Most recovery potential lies in Asia-Pacific where international air passenger levels are 28% below 2019 levels.

Source: International Air Transportation Association (IATA), September 2023.