The International Air Transport Association (IATA) stated that air travel in Africa, including Nigeria, has bounced back to its strong trend, despite the Ukraine War and restrictions in China.
The global trade body representing over 290 international airlines across Africa explained that the growth was driven majorly by international demand.
It was gathered that African airlines’ traffic rose 116.2 percent in April 2022 versus a year ago, an acceleration over the 93.3 percent year-over-year increase recorded in March 2022. April 2022 capacity was up by 65.7 percent and load factor climbed 15.7 percentage points to 67.3 percent.
“International RPKs rose 331.9 percent versus April 2021, an acceleration over the 289.9 percent rise in March 2022 compared to a year ago. Several route areas are actually above pre-pandemic levels, including Europe – Central America, Middle East – North America and North America – Central America. April 2022 international RPKs were down 43.4 percent compared to the same month in 2019,” the association said.
I reaction to this development, the Director-General of IATA, Willie Walsh, said, “With the lifting of many border restrictions, we are seeing the long-expected surge in bookings as people seek to make up for two years of lost travel opportunities. April data is cause for optimism in almost all markets, except China, which continues to severely restrict travel.”
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