The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged Asia-Pacific states to further ease border measures to accelerate the region’s recovery from COVID-19. “Asia-Pacific is playing catch-up on restarting travel after COVID-19, but there is growing momentum with governments lifting many travel restrictions. The demand for people to travel is clear. As soon as measures are relaxed there is an immediate positive reaction from travelers. So it is critical that all stakeholders, including governments are well-prepared for the restart. We cannot delay. Jobs are at stake and people want to travel,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, in his keynote address at the Changi Aviation Summit. The Asia-Pacific region’s international passenger demand for March reached 17% of pr...
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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed new guidance from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) removing its recommendation that masks should be required in-flight. EASA’s updated Aviation Health Safety Protocol, published 11 May, calls for the mandatory mask rule to be relaxed where rules have been relaxed for other transport modes. This important shift reflects the high levels of vaccination, natural immunity levels, and the removal of domestic restrictions in many European nations. The updated guidance also acknowledges the need to move from an emergency situation to a more sustainable mode of managing COVID-19. "From next week, face masks will no longer need to be mandatory in air travel in all cases, broadly aligning with the changing requirements o...
Read MoreThe head of the world’s biggest airline trade body said on Monday passenger traffic was recovering faster than expected and that, on average, the industry could now see those figures return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, a year earlier than expected. The easing of COVID-19 related restrictions around the world has released demand pent up over the last two years when governments shut their borders, leading to a jump in flights. International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Willie Walsh told Reuters the near-term outlook remained positive even as the aviation industry faces new headwinds such as high oil prices, inflation and workforce shortages. “We’re seeing very strong bookings. Certainly all the airline CEOs that I’m talking to are seeing not just good de...
Read MoreThe International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced passenger data for March 2022 demonstrating that the recovery of air travel continues. Impacts from the conflict in Ukraine on air travel demand were quite limited overall while Omicron-related effects continued to be confined largely to Asian domestic markets. FILE PHOTO: A United Airlines passenger jet takes off with New York City as a backdrop, at Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey, U.S. REUTERS/Chris Helgren Total traffic in March 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was up 76.0% compared to March 2021. Although that was lower than the 115.9% rise in February year-over-year demand, volumes in March were the closest to 2019 pre-pandemic levels, at 41% below.March 2022 domestic traffi...
Read MoreThe International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that air travel posted a strong rebound in February 2022 compared to January 2022, as Omicron-related impacts moderated outside of Asia. The war in Ukraine, which began on 24 February, did not have a major impact on traffic levels. Total traffic in February 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was up 115.9% compared to February 2021. That is an improvement from January 2022, which was up 83.1% compared to January 2021. Compared to February 2019, however, traffic was down 45.5%.February 2022 domestic traffic was up 60.7% compared to the year-ago period, building on a 42.6% increase in January 2022 compared to January 2021. There was wide variation in markets tracked by IATA. Domestic traffic in February ...
Read MoreIATA announces first industry-developed passenger CO2 calculation methodology The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced the launch of the IATA Recommended Practice Per-Passenger CO2 Calculation Methodology. IATA’s Methodology, using verified airline operational data, provides the most accurate calculation methodology for the industry to quantify CO2 emissions per passenger for a specific flight. As travelers, corporate travel managers, and travel agents are increasingly demanding precise flight CO2 emission information, an accurate and standardized calculation methodology is critical. This is particularly true in the corporate sector where such calculations are needed to underpin voluntary emissions reductions targets. FILE PHOTO: An airplane prepares...
Read MoreThe International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the increasing momentum towards re-opening of borders and relaxation of travel restrictions, as COVID-19 moves into the endemic phase. FILE PHOTO: Foreign tourists carrying their luggage walk as they arrive at the I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, as the local government kicks off the first day of the 'quarantine free' trial, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Bali, Indonesia, March 7, 2022. REUTERS/Sultan Anshori An IATA survey of travel restrictions for the world’s top 50 air travel markets (comprising 88% of international demand in 2019 as measured by revenue passenger kilometers) revealed the growing access available to vaccinated travelers: 25 markets representing 38% of 2019 international ...
Read MoreACI EUROPE (Airports Council International) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have called for all remaining COVID restrictions applying to intra-EU and Schengen area travel to be dropped, including all testing requirements, the need to present proof of vaccination, or complete a Passenger Locator Form (PLF). This includes dropping mask-wearing for travel within or between States where it is no longer required in other indoor environments. COVID-19, and specifically the Omicron variant, is now pervasive throughout all of Europe, and population immunity is at such levels that the risk of hospitalization or death has dramatically reduced, especially for vaccinated people. States are adopting surveillance strategies to ensure public health, in the same way as they do f...
Read MoreThe recovery in air travel slowed for both domestic and international in January 2022 compared to December 2021, owing to the imposition of travel restrictions following the emergence of Omicron last November. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said this according to its latest traffic data. The main highlights of the latest findings were: Total demand for air travel in January 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was up 82.3% compared to January 2021. However, it was down 4.9% compared to the previous month (December 2021) on a seasonally adjusted basis.January domestic air travel was up 41.5% compared to the year-ago period but fell 7.2% compared to December 2021 on a seasonally adjusted basis.International RPKs rose 165.6% versus January 2021 bu...
Read MoreReasons to be optimistic but Russia-Ukraine war yet to be taken into account The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects overall traveler numbers to reach 4.0 billion in 2024 (counting multi-sector connecting trips as one passenger), exceeding pre-COVID-19 levels (103% of the 2019 total). Expectations for the shape of the near-term recovery have shifted slightly, reflecting the evolution of government-imposed travel restrictions in some markets. The overall picture presented in the latest update to IATA’s long-term forecast, however, is unchanged from what was expected in November, prior to the Omicron variant. “The trajectory for the recovery in passenger numbers from COVID-19 was not changed by the Omicron variant. People want to travel. And when travel restr...
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