Air travel demand is off to a very healthy start in 2023. The rapid removal of COVID-19 restrictions for Chinese domestic and international travel bodes well for the continued strong industry recovery from the pandemic throughout the year
reputable air transport industry professional body at the continental level represents some 300 airlines comprising 83 per cent of global air traffic
Noting that the recovery in air travel demand is continuing in 2023, based on January traffic results, the international air transport body pointed out that total traffic in January 2023 (measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometers or RPKs) rose by 67.0 per cent compared to January 2022. With such projection, globally, traffic has hit about 84.2 per cent of January 2019 levels.
IATA further added that "domestic traffic for January 2023 rose 32.7 per cent compared to the year-ago period, helped by the lifting of the zero-COVID policy in China. Total January 2023 domestic traffic was at 97.4 per cent of the January 2019 level".
"International traffic climbed 104.0 per cent versus January 2022 with all markets recording strong growth, led by carriers in the Asia-Pacific region. International RPKs reached 77.0 percent of January 2019 levels", IATA said.
In his remarks, Willie Walsh, IATA’s DirectorGeneral said, “Air travel demand is off to a very healthy start in 2023. The rapid removal of COVID-19 restrictions for Chinese domestic and international travel bodes well for the continued strong industry recovery from the pandemic throughout the year. And, importantly, we have not seen the many economic and geopolitical uncertainties of the day dampening demand for travel.”
“With strong travel demand continuing through the traditionally slower winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, the stage is set for an even busier spring and summer. At a time when many are just beginning to enjoy their newly restored travel freedoms, it is especially disappointing to see the Dutch government making plans to limit their movements by unilaterally and unjustly reducing operations at Schiphol Airport", Walsh added.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria passenger traffic seems to be on the increase despite COVID-19. This is added to the fact that Nigerian roads have remained insecure for travellers, a situation that made some Nigerians to settle for air transportation.
For instance, in 2021 alone, 13 million passengers travelled through airports in the country.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that obtained the figure from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) stated that the figure represented an increase of 43.41 per cent compared to the nine million recorded in 2020.
The NBS stated that there were 6.5m arrivals in 2021, higher than 4.9m recorded in 2020. Similarly, departure stood at 6.5m in 2021 compared to 4.2m in 2020. It said that 2.2m international passengers passed through Nigerian airports in 2021, as against 1.4m passengers in 2020, which represents a 57.61 per cent growth rate.
The Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja recorded a total of 4.76m domestic travellers, accounting for 37 per cent of the passengers in 2021. It was followed by the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos State had 4.09m domestic passengers, accounting for 31 per cent of the total figures.
For foreign travel, there were 1.1m arrivals in 2021, while passengers’ departure was at 1.1m, making it 2.2m foreign movements in 2021.In the same vein, the foreign movement statistics showed that arrival in Q1 2021 was 212,977 while passengers’ departure stood at 222,453 in the same quarter. Similarly, second quarter 2021 recorded 220,171 (arrival) and 232,501 (departure).
In Q3 2021, passengers’ departure stood at 285,189, and arrival was 318,841. In Q4, the figure arrival stood at 391,284, and departure was at 335,730. The surge in passenger traffic in the year has been predicted by stakeholders especially as widespread insecurity persists in the country, especially on the roads. Bandits and kidnappers have made Nigerian roads unsafe, leaving many Nigerians with no option than to travel by air.
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