It’s a bold statement and finally supported by fact with the second quarter of the year reaching 1.5 billion seats, 4% more than in 2019 and nearly 8% up on last year.
Across the top ten country markets Germany and Japan stand out as the two markets but continuing to lag 2019 levels. In Germany, changes in travel patterns, dramatic reductions in domestic capacity (-48% V’s 2019) and one of the slowest long-haul market recoveries post pandemic explain the slip from 7th to 8th in the table. Meanwhile Japan with its reliance on capacity to and from China will be around 3.4 million seats lighter than in Q2 2019, operational challenges with Russian overflights for some airlines certainly are not helping Japan recover to historic levels as well.
Finally, finally we can probably stop making references back to 2019 and look forward to the new market opportunities, airlines and routes that will launch in the next year and beyond. Aviation survived the pandemic, it may have been a bit hairy at times, many are still recovering, and the loss of skilled workforces and experience will take years to be replaced. But, in nearly every corner of the world things are looking much better than for a very long time…unless you are waiting for a domestic flight in Germany of course!
