In a statement issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Thursday, African airlines recorded a 116.2 per cent increase in passenger traffic in April 2022 compared to the same period in March 2022
According to IATA African airlines’ traffic increase is better than the 93.3% year-over-year increase recorded in March 2022.
And when compared month on month, April 2022 figure was up 65.7% and load factor climbed 15.7 percentage points to 67.3%. Nigerian commercial airlines flying across Africa space include, Air Peace, Arik Air.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director-General, said, “With the lifting of many border restrictions, we are seeing the long-expected surge in bookings as people seek to make up for two years of lost travel opportunities.
“April data is cause for optimism in almost all markets, except China, which continues to severely restrict travel.
“The experience of the rest of the world is demonstrating that increased travel is manageable with high levels of population immunity and the normal systems for disease surveillance. We hope that China can recognize this success soon and take its own steps towards normality,” he added.
European carriers’ April international traffic rose 480.0% versus April 2021, substantially up over the 434.3% increase in March 2022 versus the same month in 2021. Capacity rose 233.5% and load factor climbed 33.7 percentage points to 79.4%.
READ ALSO: TymeBank puts a date on launching
Asia-Pacific airlines saw their April international traffic climb 290.8% compared to April 2021, significantly improved on the 197.2% gain registered in March 2022 versus March 2021. Capacity rose 88.6% and the load factor was up 34.6 percentage points to 66.8%, still the lowest among regions.
While Middle Eastern airlines had a 265.0% demand rise in April compared to April 2021, bettering the 252.7% increase in March 2022, versus the same month in 2021. April capacity rose 101.0% versus the year-ago period, and load factor climbed 32.2 percentage points to 71.7%.
For North American carriers’ April traffic rose 230.2% versus the 2021 period, slightly above the 227.9% rise in March 2022 compared to March 2021. Capacity rose 98.5%, and load factor climbed 31.6 percentage points to 79.3%.
Latin American airlines experienced a 263.2% rise in April traffic, compared to the same month in 2021, exceeding the 241.2% rise in March 2022 over March 2021.
Latin American April capacity rose 189.1% and load factor increased 16.8 percentage points to 82.3%, which easily was the highest load factor among the regions for the 19th consecutive month.
Source: Ripples Nigeria
