According to the Asia-Pacific head of airline industry group IATA, passenger airline traffic in the Asia-Pacific region should recover to around 73 percent of 2019 levels by year-end as travel restrictions relax, up from 53 percent in August.
“The momentum is very strong especially with all major markets in the Asia-Pacific now open except for China,” IATA Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific, Philip Goh was quoted as saying to press.
Asia’s aviation recovery has lagged other parts of the world in large part because of China’s ongoing border closures that have kept its international passenger numbers averaging only 2 percent to 3 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
“The year-end traffic estimate is based on China opening its borders soon, though the actual date remains unclear,” Philip Goh remarked.
Japan resumed visa-free travel for tourists on Tuesday, Taiwan will end quarantine for arrivals on Thursday and Hong Kong stopped quarantine last month – which come as good news for the airline industry.
For the record, international passenger traffic in the Asia-Pacific region was at 35 percent of 2019 levels in August, according to IATA, which estimates it will take until 2025 to reach pre-pandemic levels.
