Global passenger traffic
will
return this year to its pre-coronavirus level, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) estimated.
This estimate foresees a
new increase
in air transport after a year 2022 in which the number of passengers reached 74% of the volume registered in 2019, the last full year before covid-19.
Pandemic and recovery
Passenger traffic
was reduced by 60% in 2020
compared to the previous year.
In 2021, it was still 49% lower than in 2019
, according to the UN agency based in Montreal (Canada).
Demand is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Photo: Shutterstock
ICAO estimates that "demand will quickly return to pre-pandemic levels in most destinations during the first quarter" of 2023, according to a statement.
It calculates that
by the end of the year the number of travelers will be about 3% higher than in 2019
and expects it to increase to 4% above this year in 2024.
The organization expects the sector to recover
operating
profitability (profits before taxes, depreciation and amortization) in the last quarter of 2023, "after three consecutive years of losses."
Several airlines returned to profit, due to the renewed appetite for tourism and air travel, which was not diminished by the
sharp increases in rates
.
At IATA, the lifting of travel restrictions stands out.
Photo Shutterstock.
What do they say at IATA
On the other hand, from IATA, the international airline association, its general director Willie Walsh said: “The industry closed 2022 much stronger than it entered.
With the lifting of travel restrictions by most governments, people have regained - and taken advantage of - the freedom to travel."
He added: "We expect this momentum to continue in 2023, despite the disproportionate reaction of some governments to the reopening of China."
Finally, a wish.
"Let's hope that 2022 will be remembered as the year governments forever put away the 'regulatory shackles' that kept their citizens 'grounded' for so long."
Walsh stressed: "It is vital that governments have learned the lesson: travel restrictions and border closures do little to slow the spread of infectious diseases in our global, interconnected world. Yet they have a huge negative impact on the lives of people, as well as in the world economy, which depends on the free movement of people and goods".
With information from AFP
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