The recovery in global air travel slowed in August compared to July as government actions in response to concerns over the Delta variant reduced passenger demand, especially for domestic flights. This is what the International Air Transport Association (Iata) notes.
Given 2020 was distorted by the extraordinary impact of Covid, the comparison of the data is against July 2019, which instead followed a normal demand pattern. Well, according to Iata data, the total demand for air travel in August is down by 56% compared to August 2019, and has slowed down since July, when the demand was 53% below the levels of July 2019.
The slowdown comes from domestic markets, down 32.2% compared to August 2019, a sharp deterioration compared to July 2021, when traffic had decreased by 16.1% compared to two years ago. The worst impact was in China, while India and Russia were the only large markets to show month-to-month improvement compared to July 2021.
International passenger demand in August was 68.8% lower than in August 2019, an improvement from the 73.1% decline recorded in July.
“The results for August reflect the impact of concerns about the Delta variant on domestic travel, although international travel has continued at a snail’s pace towards a full recovery that cannot happen until governments restore freedom to travel,” he stressed. Willie Walsh, general manager of Iata, informing that September bookings indicate a deterioration in the international recovery.