Recovery of passenger air transport is affected by omicron variant

This Wednesday the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the economic recovery of the sector has suffered a new setback in the last two months due to the restrictions on mobility imposed by the governments to stop the spread of the omicron variant.

“The recovery of air traffic continued in November, but unfortunately the governments overreacted to the appearance of the omicron variant and resorted to failed border closure measures, excessive testing of travelers and quarantines to contain the virus,” he said. the Association’s CEO, Willie Walsh, in a statement.

“It is not surprising that international ticket sales in December and early January fell sharply compared to 2019, suggesting a more difficult first quarter than expected,” he added.

The data presented by the IATA reflect a 47% drop in the demand for passenger air transport last November, compared to the same month in 2019, before the pandemic and considered the last normal year for the air transport industry.

This drop, however, was less pronounced than the previous month, October, when it stood at 48.9% compared to October 2019.

IATA noted that domestic passenger air traffic worsened in November after improvements in the previous two months. This new blow was due to a 50.9% reduction in traffic in China (compared to 2019) due to several cities implementing travel restrictions to contain outbreaks of COVID-19 prior to the mass circulation of the omicron variant.

Australia was the country in the world that reduced its domestic traffic the most in November compared to the same month in 2019 (71.6%).

“If the experience of the last 22 months has shown anything, it is that there is little or no correlation between the introduction of travel restrictions and the prevention of transmission of the virus across borders. Hopefully governments pay more attention as we start the new year, ”said Walsh. (I)