Total global air passenger traffic in July this year was up 58.8% in year-on-year (y-o-y) terms, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has reported. IATA is the representative body for the global airline industry. Air passenger traffic in July had reached 74.6% of the levels recorded before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

International air traffic in July was up 150.6% in y-o-y terms. The passenger numbers were equivalent to 67.9% of those reported in July 2019, before the pandemic. International traffic accounted for 37.7% of total air passenger traffic in July.

However, the recovery in the air passenger market was being driven by domestic travel. Domestic air traffic in July was up 4.1%, y-o-y. (This increase in domestic traffic was achieved off a much higher base than that for international air traffic.) July’s domestic air passenger numbers came to 86.9% of those recorded in July 2019. In month-on-month terms, China saw a strong improvement in July. Domestic air passenger traffic was responsible for 62.3% of all air passenger traffic in that month.

“July’s performance continued to be strong, with some markets approaching pre-Covid levels," pointed out IATA director-general Wille Walsh. “And that is even with capacity constraints in parts of the world that were unprepared for the speed at which people returned to travel. There is still more ground to recover, but this is an excellent sign as we head into the traditionally slower autumn and winter quarters in the Northern Hemisphere.”

Regarding total air passenger traffic in July, the IATA region which performed the best, y-o-y, was the Middle East, which rocketed by 176.7%. Europe was in second place, shooting up 84%, followed by Africa, which soared 81.9%. Latin America ranked fourth with an increase of 59.2%, with the Asia-Pacific recording an increase of 47.5%, followed by North America with 26.9%. But IATA cautioned that some of these markets were growing from low bases, and others from high bases.

“Aviation continues to recover as people take advantage of their restored freedom to travel,” he highlighted. “The pandemic showed that aviation is not a luxury but a necessity in our globalised and interconnected world. Aviation is committed to continuing to meet the demands of people and commerce and to do it sustainably.”