IATA: Global air passenger traffic down 53% in two years

Global air travel recovery improved in July, supported by vaccine rollout and appetite for travel during the traditionally busy northern hemisphere summer, Report informs, citing a press release of the International Air Traffic Association (IATA).

"Industry-wide revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) fell by 53.1% compared with pre-crisis July 2019 – a robust improvement on a 60.0% fall in June," it said.

According to the document, aggregated international RPKs fell by 73.6% compared with July 2019 – a 7.3ppts uptick on the decline in the same metric in June, while domestic RPKs dropped by 15.6%.

The most significant drop to pre-crisis levels was fixed in the countries of the Middle East (73.2%) and the Asian Pacific region (-62.7%).

The decline made 56.5% in Europe and 44.5% in Latin American countries. North America saw the shiest drop at 28.5%.

The press release also notes the best indicators in Russia in July, when the domestic passenger traffic saw a 28.9% growth to pre-crisis levels.

The demand for travel in the country is still maintained by rapid growth in domestic tourism, with the seaside cities popular in summer, particularly Sochi, which saw a 64% growth in domestic travelers.

According to the State Statistical Committee, the passenger transportation on all types of transport means in Azerbaijan made 650,356,700 people in January-July 2021, a drop of 15.2% over the same period of 2020.

In the reporting period, 513,600 people were transported by air, marking a 10.8% growth.