New data from the International Air Transport Association has revealed that the recovery of passenger demand continued to be disappointingly slow in October.
Total demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) was down 71 per cent compared to October 2019.
This was just a modest improvement from the 72 per cent year-to-year decline recorded in September.
Capacity was down 60 per cent compared to a year ago and load factor fell 22 percentage points to 60 per cent.
International passenger demand in October was down 88 per cent compared to October 2019, virtually unchanged from the year-to-year decline recorded in September.
Capacity was 77 per cent below previous year levels, and load factor shrank 38 percentage points to 43 per cent.
Domestic demand drove what little recovery there was, with October domestic traffic down 41 per cent compared to the prior year.
This was improved from a 43 per cent year-to-year decline in September.
“Fresh outbreaks of Covid-19 and governments’ continued reliance on heavy-handed quarantines resulted in another catastrophic month for air travel demand.
“While the pace of recovery is faster in some regions than others, the overall picture for international travel is grim….
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