According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), air travel recovery accelerated heading into the busy summer travel season in the Northern Hemisphere. Compared to May 2021, the total traffic in May 2022 was up 83 percent, largely because of a strong recovery in international traffic. At present, global traffic is at 68.7 percent of what it was pre-crisis.
There was a 325.8 percent increase in international traffic compared to May 2021. Travel restrictions have been loosened in most parts of Asia, which has accelerated the recovery of global travel. International revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) reached 64.1% of May 2019 levels in May 2022. May traffic for European carriers increased 412.3 percent compared to May 2021. A 453.3 percent increase in traffic was recorded by Asia-Pacific airlines in May compared to May 2021.
The traffic of Middle Eastern airlines increased 317.2 percent in May compared to May 2021. There was an increase of 115.7 percent in capacity in May compared to a year ago. In May, North American carriers experienced a 203.4 percent increase in traffic in comparison to 2021. May’s traffic for Latin American airlines rose 180.5 percent over May 2021. However, African airlines saw a 134.9 percent increase in RPKs in May compared to last May.