Middle Eastern airlines posted an 82.9 per cent demand drop in April compared to April 2019, which was weaker than the  81.6 per cent decline in March, versus the same month in 2019, new data revealed.

 

According to figures released by the International Air Transport Association (Iata), capacity declined 65.3 per cent, and load factor fell 41.1 percentage points to 39.6 per cent.

 

International passenger demand for the month of April was 87.3 per cent below April 2019, little changed from the 87.8 per cent decline recorded in March 2021 versus two years ago.  

 

Total domestic demand was down 25.7 per cent versus pre-crisis levels (April 2019), much improved over March 2021, when domestic traffic was down 31.6 per cent versus the 2019 period. As with March, all markets except Brazil and India showed improvement compared to March 2021, with both China and Russia reporting traffic growth compared to pre-Covid-19 levels. 

 

Total demand for air travel in April 2021 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was down 65.4 per cent compared to April 2019. That was an improvement over the 66.9 per cent decline recorded in March 2021 versus March 2019. The better performance was driven by gains in most domestic markets.

 

“The continuing strong recovery in domestic markets tells us that when people are given the freedom to fly, they take advantage of it. Unfortunately, that freedom still does not exist in most international markets. When it does, I’m confident we will see a similar resurgence in demand,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General. - TradeArabia News Service