The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the recovery in air travel continued into December 2022 and throughout the year.
Total traffic in 2022 (measured in revenue passenger-kilometres or RPK) increased 64.4% compared to 2021. Globally, full-year 2022 traffic was 68.5% of pre-2022 levels. pandemic (2019). Total December 2022 traffic increased by 39.7% compared to December 2021 and reached 76.9% of the December 2019 level.
International traffic in 2022 was up 152.7% compared to 2021 and reached 62.2% of 2019 levels. December 2022 international traffic increased 80.2% compared to December 2021, reaching 75 .1% of the December 2019 level.
Domestic traffic for 2022 increased by 10.9% compared to the previous year. 2022 domestic traffic was 79.6% of the full-year 2019 level. December 2022 domestic traffic increased 2.6% over the prior-year period and accounted for 79.9% of December traffic of 2019.
“The industry came out of 2022 much better than it went into it, as most governments lifted COVID-19 travel restrictions during the year and people took advantage of the restoration of their freedom to travel. This momentum is expected to continue into the New Year, despite overreactions from some governments to the reopening of China,” said Willie Walsh, IATA Director General.
International Passenger Markets
Asia-Pacific airlines recorded a 363.3% increase in international traffic for the full year 2022 compared to 2021, maintaining the highest year-on-year rate among the regions. Capacity increased 129.9% and load factor rose 37.3 percentage points to 74.0%. December 2022 traffic increased by 302.7% compared to December 2021.
Full-year traffic for European carriers increased 132.2% compared to 2021. Capacity increased 84.0% and load factor increased 16.7 percentage points to 80.6%. For December, demand was up 46.5% compared to the same month in 2021.
Middle Eastern airlines saw traffic increase 157.4% in 2022 compared to 2021. Capacity increased 73.8% and load factor rose 24.6 percentage points to 75.8%. December demand was up 69.8% compared to the same month in 2021.
North American carriers reported an annual traffic increase of 130.2% in 2022 compared to 2021. Capacity increased 71.3% and load factor rose 20.7 percentage points to 80.8%. December 2022 traffic increased by 61.3% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Latin American airlines recorded a traffic increase of 119.2% in 2022 over the full year 2021. Annual capacity increased 93.3% and load factor increased 9.7 percentage points to 82.2%, the highest among the regions. December demand was up 37.0% compared to December 2021.
Annual traffic for African airlines increased by 89.2% in 2022 compared to the previous year. Full-year 2022 capacity increased 51.0% and load factor rose 14.5 percentage points to 71.7%, the lowest among regions. December 2022 traffic for African airlines increased by 118.8% over the prior year period.
National Passenger Markets
India's domestic traffic for the full year increased by 48.8% compared to 2021, reaching 85.7% of the 2019 level.
Japan's domestic RPKs increased 75.9% in 2022 to 74.1% of the 2019 level.
The Bottom Line
“Let's hope that 2022 will be known as the year that governments locked forever the regulatory shackles that kept their citizens tied to the land for so long. It is vital that governments learn the lesson that travel restrictions and border closures have little positive impact in terms of slowing the spread of infectious diseases in our globally interconnected world. However, they have a huge negative impact on people's lives and livelihoods, as well as the global economy that depends on the unrestricted movement of people and goods,” Walsh said.