Good Forecast for Global Aviation in 2022

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) held its annual meeting in Boston, USA from October 3rd to 5th, and released the latest global aviation industry financial performance outlook. The report shows that although the Covid epidemic crisis continues, the performance of the worldwide aviation industry has improved. IATA predicts that in 2022, the global aviation industry demand will return to 61% of the level in 2019, and the total global passenger traffic will reach 3.4 billion passengers. At the same time, air cargo demand will continue to remain strong and is expected to be 13.2% higher than 2019 levels in 2022.

Willie Walsh, President of IATA, stated that the impact of the epidemic crisis has been enormous for airlines. From 2020 to 2022, the industry will lose more than 200 billion US dollars. To survive, airlines have drastically cut costs and used every opportunity to adjust the business, thereby reducing the loss from 137.7 billion US dollars in 2020 to 52 billion US dollars in 2021. In 2022, the loss will be further narrowed to 12 billion US dollars.

Walsh said "We have passed the dark moment of crisis. Although it shows the current posture, but the road to recovery is already in sight."

The report pointed out that Asia-Pacific airlines' losses are expected to fall from US$11.2 billion in 2021 to US$2.4 billion in 2022. IATA believes that the loss reduction target in the Asia-Pacific region will be achieved. Airlines in the area also benefit from their dominant air cargo market.

IATA showed that the global air cargo business has performed well, and global domestic travel will also approach the pre-crisis level in 2022. However, the challenge is that the international travel market is still in a severe downturn due to government travel restrictions.

IATA pointed out that rebuilding global connectivity, aviation, and tourism should be a priority for governments.