The global recovery in international air passenger demand was knocked back by around two weeks by the spread of the Omicron variant in December, but activity still grew in the month and is set to accelerate in 2022, according to IATA. In its first media presentation of the year, the airline association presented data showing that total revenue passenger-kilometres grew from a pandemic-era low of 90%-plus below 2019 levels in April 2020 to a gap of around 45% in December 2021. Across the whole of 2021, RPKs were down 58% against 2019, benefiting from a fairly consistent improvement throughout the year, including during the spread of Omicron. In 2020, full-year RPKs were down 66% versus 2019. IATA notes that for most of 2021 international passenger demand recovered at a pace of roughly four percentage points per month compared with 2019.
Without Omicron, it would therefore have expected international demand for December to improve to around 56.5% below 2019 levels. Instead, volumes rose marginally to 58.4% below 2019 from -60.5% in November. "Overall travel demand strengthened in 2021. That trend continued into December despite travel restrictions in the face of Omicron. That says a lot about the strength of passenger confidence and the desire to travel," says IATA director general Willie Walsh. "The challenge for 2022 is to reinforce that confidence by normalizing travel. While international travel remains far from normal in many parts of the world, there is momentum in the right direction." The global data masks large differences between regions. While overall RPKs in North America fell by just 39%, helped by the large domestic US market, in the Middle East they were down nearly 70% and in Asia-Pacific by over two-thirds. IATA also sought to highlight the strong performance of air cargo in the year: demand rose 6.9% in 2021 compared with 2019, and 19% compared with 2020, helped by a strong performance in December. This represents the second largest year-on-year performance since IATA began collecting data in 1990. Briefing reporters, Walsh cited some encouraging trends. As well as the strength in domestic travel, with several market surpassing their 2019 levels, he highlighted that premium RPKs were recovering at the same pace as in economy, contrary to many expectations. Separate data shows that airlines are increasingly confident about growing passenger numbers over the next 12 months as pent-up demand is released onto the market and travel restrictions are pulled back. "More and move government are reviewing restrictions, and we are pleased to see some... are beginning to be removed," says Walsh. This is a "positive indication with what is likely to happen with bookings", he adds. Walsh also gave his brief opinion about the increasingly acrimonious dispute between Airbus and Qatar Airways concerning the A350. "Myself and a lot of airline CEOs will want to understand what has caused that issue," he says, before sounding a warning about market duopoly and a lack of competition between suppliers. "I would hate to think one market player is taking advantage of their current strength to exploit their position... That's something we are watching very closely."

American Airlines and British Airways intend to co-locate operations at New York JFK's terminal 8 starting 1 December. The two carriers had agreed in February 2019 to redevelop, expand and enhance terminal 8. The plans for terminal 8 at JFK came four months after then-governor Andrew Cuomo of New York announced a $13 billion plan to consolidate the airport's other five terminals, including terminal 7, into two primary complexes dubbed the north and south terminals. The Oneworld alliance members are investing a total of $400 million in the terminal to ease connectivity while supporting the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s plan to modernise JFK. American in June issued $150 million in revenue bonds in connection with the financing used to build its facilities at JFK. “American is eager to welcome British Airways to their new home at JFK,” American’s chief customer officer Alison Taylor states. “Their move to terminal 8 further deepens our longstanding partnership and makes it easier than ever for customers traveling between New York and London or onward across our global networks.” As part of their redevelopment efforts at JFK, American and BA in January 2020 broke ground on five new widebody gates, four new widebody hardstand parking positions and an approximately 12,077m2 (130,000ft2) of new and renovated terminal space. BA will remain in terminal 7, which it owns and has occupied since 1970, until 1 December, the airline’s director of brand and customer experience Tom Stevens says. “Our move to the redeveloped and expanded terminal 8 will bring a range of benefits for our customers, including a better transfer experience, enabling them to travel to more than 30 destinations across the US, Caribbean and Latin America with American Airlines,” he adds. Atlantic Joint Business partners American and BA plan to offer up to 14 peak daily departures between JFK and London Heathrow in summer 2022.

New Italian flag carrier Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) has agreed to lease four Airbus A350s from Kuwaiti lessor ALAFCO. The aircraft will be leased for a period of 12 years and delivery is scheduled for later this year, says ALAFCO. "ITA represents a fantastic addition to our growing customer base, further strengthening our aircraft portfolio," states ALAFCO chief executive Adel Albanwan. "This deal underlines our continued efforts to place aircraft from our orderbook despite the challenges of the Covid-19 outbreak, and marks the start of a new partnership that we will look to develop into a long-term success." ITA in September agreed to lease 31 new aircraft from Air Lease Corporation, as part of its plan to operate an all-Airbus fleet. The aircraft, which will be delivered from the second half of 2022 through to early 2025, include 15 A220s, two A320neos, nine A321neos and five A330-900neos. The carrier has also placed tentative orders with Airbus for 10 A330neos, seven A220s and 11 A320neos. ITA has said that it plans to work with six lessors to increase its fleet from an initial 52 aircraft to 105 in 2025. ITA launched services on 15 October, the day after predecessor Alitalia operated its last flight.