Global air travel back to within one percent of 2019 levels

Global air travel has recovered in November to within one percent of 2019 levels. The average of passenger revenue kilometers (RPK) reached 99.1 percent, IATA said on Wednesday. Domestic travel is already up 6.7 percent on pre-pandemic levels.

“We are moving ever closer to surpassing the 2019 peak year for air travel. Economic headwinds are not deterring people from taking to the skies. International travel remains 5.5 percent below pre-pandemic levels but that gap is rapidly closing. And domestic markets have been above their pre-pandemic levels continuously since April,” said Director General Willie Walsh in a media release. October figures already showed that the industry was closing in on 2019 and is expected to have ended 2023 with $23.3 billion in net profits.

November traffic grew by 29.7 percent year on year. International traffic was up by 26.4 percent year on year, but at 94.5 percent is still down by 5.5 percent on 2019 levels. The biggest recovery was evident in the Asia-Pacific region at 63.8 percent versus November 2022, when China and Japan still were imposing travel restrictions.