The International Air Transport Association (IATA) stated that global passenger demand in April decreased by 94.3% compared to April last year.
The decrease was attributed to the travel restrictions due to Covid-19, which shut down the international and domestic travel.
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This is reported to be the largest rate of decrease in passenger traffic since 1990.
However, the flight totals increased by 30% between 21 April and 27 May.
This increase is said to be the first step of aviation beginning to return back to normal, provided that the pandemic doesn’t reoccur now.
IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said: “April was a disaster for aviation as air travel almost entirely stopped. But April may also represent the nadir of the crisis. Flight numbers are increasing.
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By GlobalData“Countries are beginning to lift mobility restrictions. And business confidence is showing improvement in key markets such as China, Germany, and the US. These are positive signs as we start to rebuild the industry from a stand-still. The initial green shoots will take time, possibly years, to mature.”
In the international market, international passenger demand decreased by 98.4% compared to April last year. This is a decrease of 58.1% compared to March.
IATA added that the international capacity decreased by 95.1%, while the load factor reduced to 27.5%.
Domestic traffic in April decreased by 86.9%, the largest decreases seen in Australia with 96.8%, Brazil with 93.1% and the US with 95.7%.
Previously, IATA stated that the global passenger demand for February decreased by 14.1% compared to February last year.
