Many of us are entering 2022 with a sense of cautious optimism, and while there are still some challenges, let’s hope that this year will bring joy, happiness, and global economic recovery, followed closely by the recovery of the aviation industry. As this is the first issue for 2022, lets first start with some insights into how 2021 closed compared to 2020 and 2019. The following table shows the month-wise seat capacity for all flights worldwide over the past three years.
2021 closed with approximately 3.60 billion seats, which was 12% higher than 2021. Initially, Q1 of 2021 showed signs of a decline as the economy was still recovering and there were a lot of travel restrictions in place in most countries. But, as the number and intensity of restrictions were eased, more capacity was added into the market, and significant capacity was added from April onwards. While 2021 was a positive year compared to 2020, there is still much recovery needed, as the total seat capacity in 2021 was only 63% of what it was in 2019. 2019 had 5.7 billion seats compared to 3.6 billion in 2021. 2021 was a roller coaster ride with restrictions coming in and being lifted, the emergence of the Delta variant and then at the end of the year the Omicron variant, which is expected to impact the recovery in 2022 as well. The below table highlights the planned seat capacity for 2022 as of January 10, 2022.
The current planned capacity is not guaranteed and will be adjusted as the months get closer. Since the start of pandemic, airlines’ planning horizons have been reduced to four to six weeks due to market uncertainty, with capacity being adjusted to meet demand close to the operating month. The January 2022 planned capacity stands as 354 million seats, which is 42% more than January 2021 but four million fewer seats then December 2021, which shows impact that Omicron is already having on capacity. We will continue to monitor the global environment and trends to see how it impacts the aviation industry and will bring the latest insights to you monthly. Feel free to contact me if you need any more insights relating to this article. Thank You