Outlook from the UN organization: Air passenger traffic will probably exceed the pre-corona level in 2023

Air passenger traffic could return to pre-pandemic levels this year. According to the civil aviation organization ICAO, the number of passengers should even be higher than in 2019.

The International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO speaks of a “complete and sustainable recovery”: Last year, passenger numbers had already reached 74 percent of the pre-Corona level. For this year, the organization based in Montreal, Canada, expects that the number of passengers will be three percent higher than in 2019, and in 2024 even four percent.

The ICAO attributes the rapid recovery after the corona pandemic primarily to the resumption of international flights. In 2022, 75 percent of the passenger planes were already in operation again. The organization also sees a recovery in demand for new aircraft: the number of orders last year was higher than in 2019.

Lower growth in air freight

In the case of air freight, the ICAO is assuming slightly lower growth this year due to the slowdown in global economic development: After three years of losses, the airlines are expected to return to the operating profit zone in the last quarter of 2023.

Due to the travel restrictions caused by the corona pandemic, the number of air passengers in 2020 fell by 60 percent compared to the pre-corona year 2019. In 2021, the number was still 49 percent below the value of 2019.