Demand for air travel continued to recover in December 2022 and the airline industry closed the year with very positive figures, according to data revealed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
According to the figures, global air passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, grew by 39.7% in December compared to the same month in 2021. This represents a 76.9% recovery in activity compared to the last month of 2019.
Passenger traffic grew by 64.4% year-on-year during 2022. International traffic increased by 152.7% compared to 2021 and reached 62.2% of 2019 levels. Meanwhile, domestic traffic was up 10.9% year-on-year and stood at 79.6% of the levels of the last full year prior to the start of the pandemic.
«The industry closed the year much stronger than it started it», noted Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General. «With the lifting of travel restrictions by most governments, people regained, and took advantage of, the freedom to travel», he said. «We expect this momentum to continue in 2023, despite the disproportionate reaction of some governments to China’s reopening», he concluded.
International passenger air transport by region during 2022
- Airlines from Asia-Pacific: year-on-year traffic growth of 363.3%, the highest increase among all regions. Capacity increased 129.9% and the occupancy rate rose 37.3 percentage points to 74%. In December, traffic grew by 302.7% compared to the same month in 2021.
- Airlines from Europe: year-on-year traffic growth of 132.2%. Capacity increased by 84% and the occupancy rate rose by 16.7 percentage points to 80.6%. In December, demand grew by 46.5% compared to the same month in 2021.
- Airlines from the Middle East: year-on-year traffic growth of 157.4%. Capacity increased by 73.8% and the occupancy rate rose by 24.6 percentage points to 75.8%. In December, demand grew by 69.8% compared to the same month in 2021.
- Airlines from North America: year-on-year traffic growth of 130.2%. Capacity increased by 71.3% and the occupancy rate rose 20.7 percentage points to 80.8%. In December, traffic grew 61.3% compared to the same month in 2021.
- Airlines from Latin America: year-on-year traffic growth of 119.2%. Capacity increased by 93.3% and the occupancy rate rose by 9.7 percentage points to 82.2%, the highest among all regions. In December, demand grew by 37% compared to the same month in 2021.
- Airlines from Africa: year-on-year traffic growth of 89.2%. Capacity increased by 51% and the occupancy rate rose 14.5 percentage points to 71.7%, the lowest among all regions. In December, traffic grew by 118.8% compared to the same month in 2021.
Domestic passenger air transport during 2022
The United States closed the year as the world’s largest domestic air market, with a 19.2% share of total traffic. It was followed by China, with a 6.5% share, and India, which grew by 48.8% year-on-year and reached 2% of the global share. The domestic market of the world’s second most populous country already achieved an 85.7% recovery from 2019 activity levels.
In Latin America, Brazil continued to lead the recovery: its domestic market accounted for 1.5% of the global total during 2022.
See also: IATA: Passenger traffic continues to recover in November
