The International Air Transport Association (Iata), the global representative body for the airline industry, has reported that both international and domestic air passenger traffic in July remained well below the levels achieved before the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the July figures also showed a “significant improvement” over those for June. (Because of the highly distortionary effects of the pandemic on air traffic during 2020, Iata’s basis for comparison for monthly traffic statistics during this year are the equivalent months in 2019, before Covid-19 hit.)

Total air travel demand in July was 53.1% below the level for July 2019. But the figure in June had been 60% down on the number for June 2019. Regarding international air travel, July’s demand was 73.6% below that for July 2019, but again this was better than the level recorded in June, which had been 80.9% less than that in June 2019. All regions reported improvements (except that air travel data for Africa was not available in time to be included in the report).

Concerning domestic air travel, this performed much better than the international segment. Total domestic demand in July was 15.6% below the level for July 2019. In June, the decline had been 22.9% compared with June 2019. Russia even recorded an increase in domestic air traffic in July, of 28.9%, in relation to July 2019. This was not the first time Russia had posted the best result. (China was second best, with a decline of only 2.5%, and the US third, with a decrease of 7.7%.)

“July results reflect people’s eagerness to travel during the northern hemisphere summer,” highlighted Iata director-general Willie Walsh. “Domestic travel was back to 85% of pre-crisis levels, but international demand has only recovered just over a quarter of 2019 volumes. The problem is border control measures. Government decisions are not being driven by data, particularly with respect to the efficacy of vaccines. People travelled where they could, and that was primarily in domestic markets. A recovery of international travel needs governments to restore freedom to travel. At a minimum, vaccinated travellers should not face restrictions. That would go a long way to reconnecting the world and reviving the travel and tourism sectors.”

“As the northern hemisphere summer travel season draws to a close it is clear that too many governments missed the opportunity to apply a risk-based approach to managing their borders,” he observed. “The growing number of fully vaccinated travellers and the prevalence of testing provided the chance to restore international connectivity and bring much needed relief to economies that are heavily reliant on travel and tourism. Instead, governments continued to behave as if it was the summer of 2020. Economies and the labour force will pay the price for decisions that were made not based on science, but on political expediency. Governments have rightly urged their populations to be vaccinated; now governments need to have confidence in the benefits of vaccinations – including the freedom to travel.”