An Air China aircraft stands on the tarmac at the Beijing Capital International Airport, China, on October 13, 2020. Photo: Chi Jingyi/GT

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the recovery of passenger demand continued to be disappointingly slow in October, while  passenger bookings of China's carriers continue to climb.

Total passenger demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was down 70.6 percent compared to October 2019,  a modest improvement from the 72.2 percent year-to-year decline recorded in September. Capacity was down 59.9 percent compared to a year ago and load factor fell 21.8 percentage points to 60.2 percent, IATA said. 

International passenger demand in October was down 87.8 percent compared to October 2019, virtually unchanged from the 88.0 percent year-to-year decline recorded in September. Capacity was 76.9 percent below previous year levels, and the load factor shrank 38.3 percentage points to 42.9 percent.

What little global recovery there was driven by countries' domestic demand, with October domestic traffic down 40.8 percent compared to the prior year. This was an improvement from a 43.0 percent year-to-year decline in September. Capacity was 29.7 percent below 2019 levels and the load factor dropped 13.2 percentage points to 70.4 percent.

"While the pace of recovery is faster in some regions than others, the overall picture for international travel is grim. This uneven recovery is more pronounced in domestic markets, with China's domestic market having nearly recovered, while most others remain deeply depressed," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's Director General and CEO.

Asia-Pacific airlines' October traffic collapsed 95.6 percent compared to the year-ago period, which was unchanged from September. The region continued to suffer from the steepest traffic declines. Capacity plummeted 88.5 percent and load factor sagged 49.4 percentage points to 30.3 percent, the lowest among regions.

But IATA said China's domestic traffic was down just 1.4 percent in October compared to October a year ago. The domestic economy was close to normality and low fares and so-called 'all you can fly' deals boosted demand.

Global Times