US/CHINA. New research from travel data company Cirium shows the strength of the rebound in Chinese domestic aviation. Almost 64 million seats are scheduled within the China market for July, a capacity fall of only -5% compared to the same month last year. In the US, domestic seat capacity this month is over 47.4 million, down by -46% on July 2019.
Domestic scheduled flight numbers for July are still highest within the US at 413,538, compared to 378,434 flights scheduled within China.
Cirium analysed travel data from the top 20 domestic markets worldwide for July, with Vietnam showing the highest growth rate in seat numbers year-on-year at +28%, as travel restrictions ease.
The top 20 global domestic markets, as per schedules for July 2020, account for more than 1.3 million flights in total, down by -32% compared to 2019.
Cirium Director of Market Development – Airlines and Airports Alistair Rivers said: “Cirium figures reveal a fragile but cautiously resurgent market, as the air travel attempts to recover from the worst collapse in its history, triggered by a fall in demand and the imposition of travel restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is interesting to see China edging near the US, the previously dominant domestic market, and showing a return to similar levels of last year. However, the US has suffered a brutal -46% collapse versus July 2019.
“It’s also encouraging that other parts of Asia are showing a resurgence, with smaller markets such as Vietnam, South Korea and Indonesia showing positive YoY growth. Air travel activity is appearing to reflect the relative regional retreat and advance of COVID-19 cases globally. So, it’s not surprising to see Brazil, which is experiencing high levels of COVID-19 cases, experience a precipitous -71% YoY decline in capacity.”
A recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Melbourne, and the closing of the Victoria and New South Wales border, is mirrored with a -70% fall in Australian domestic flights scheduled for July 2020 compared to July 2019. The country also shows the biggest drop in the global top 20 with a -74% fall in domestic seats YoY.
It is closely followed by Canada, with a steep -69% drop in capacity year-on-year. Meanwhile Spain’s domestic traffic has halved, with Italy also down sharply at -49% compared to July 2019.
Despite Norway’s aviation industry being hit hard by travel disruption, the country’s domestic flights have recovered better than any other European country, according to Cirium. Domestic flights scheduled for July have only dipped by -8% compared to a year earlier and seat capacity is down by just -5%.
India’s large domestic market is also showing the first signs of recovery with flights scheduled for July 2020 down just -4% compared to July 2019.
