A fledgling recovery in both domestic and international air travel in October faces a new threat amid a spate of new restrictions imposed by governments due to the Omicron coronavirus variant, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday.
“October’s traffic performance reinforces that people will travel when they are permitted to. Unfortunately, government responses to the emergence of the Omicron variant are putting at risk the global connectivity it has taken so long to rebuild,” IATA’s Director General Willie Walsh said in a press release.
International passenger demand in October was 65.5 per cent below October 2019, compared to a 69 per cent decline for September versus the 2019 period, with all regions showing improvement, the release said.
