'2021 Global Air Travel Demand Still 58% Lower Than Pre-Pandemic Level'

Air cargo demand swelled above pre pandemic level with 6.9% jump, says International Air Transport Association.

Amid a slow recovery throughout 2021, global air travel demand last year was still 58.4% lower than the pre-pandemic level, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Tuesday.
The figure is an improvement compared to 2020, when demand was down 65.8% from 2019, the group said in a statement.
Air travel demand is measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs).
International passenger demand fell 75.5% compared with 2019, while load factor, or seat occupancy, dropped 24 percentage points to 58%.
Domestic demand declined 28.2% and load factor slipped by 9.3 percentage points to 74.3%.
According to IATA data, demand for air cargo swelled above the pre-pandemic level last year, registering a 6.9% jump compared to 2019. -