Air passenger demand plunges by 14% on coronavirus travel restrictions

February international passenger demand fell 10.1 per cent compared to February 2019

Passenger traffic data for February released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that demand (measured in total revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) fell 14.1 per cent compared to February 2019.

This was the steepest decline in traffic since 9/11 and reflected collapsing domestic travel in China and sharply falling international demand to/from and within the Asia Pacific region, owing to the spreading COVID-19 virus and government-imposed travel restrictions.

February capacity (available seat kilometres or ASKs) fell 8.7 per cent as airlines scrambled to trim capacity in line with plunging traffic, and load factor fell 4.8 percentage points to 75.9 per