US aviation recovery hopes rise as flight bookings show positive trends, reports ForwardKeys

US. ForwardKeys has released new air ticket data covering the US for the early part of this year which shows some encouraging signs for air travel recovery.

The travel data analyst reports that there has been progressive growth in US domestic flight bookings every week since the beginning of the year. Benchmarked against 2019 levels, flight tickets issued have risen from 42% in the first week of January to 64% in the first week of March.

The long climb back to 2019 levels is underway, with a steady increase in flights for both domestic and international destinations showing for the early part of this year (click to enlarge)

Starting a little later, from the last week in January, international bookings have followed a similar trend. At that time, issued air tickets stood at less than 30% of 2019 levels but they had climbed to 44% by the first week of March.

Advance bookings, however, remain a long way short of pre-pandemic levels, ForwardKeys noted. As of 8 March, domestic flight tickets issued for the period 1 April-31 August were -49.3% behind 2019 levels. For the same period, international bookings were -68.7% behind where they were at the equivalent point two years ago.

Cancún (pictured below, credit: Visit Cancún) leads the list of destinations currently attracting international flights from the US. (click to enlarge table)

Meanwhile, regional travel from the US is starting to show some positive trends, buoyed by travel to Mexico and Caribbean destinations. ForwardKeys’ findings show that for forward international travel from the US from March up to the end of June, three Mexican cities are among the top ten most popular destinations as per bookings up to 4 March 2021.

Tickets sold to fly to Cancún, the Mexican city on the Yucatán Peninsula bordering the Caribbean Sea, are just short of 17% of all tickets to international destinations for the four months. This represents a significant increase compared to its 2019 level of just 5.68%.

The major destinations which are holding up the best are all holiday hot spots, ForwardKeys observed. Domestically, forward bookings for Florida are -22.2% behind 2019 levels and for Hawaii, they are -36.3% behind.

Charlotte Douglas heads the list of most resilient US airports for forward flights departure bookings up to the end of June (click to enlarge)

Internationally, the top three destinations are Mexico, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where issued tickets are -26.6%, -49.0% and -16.1% behind respectively.

There is one outstanding exception. Bookings for the US Virgin Islands are currently +39.8% ahead. ForwardKeys VP Insights Olivier Ponti commented: “The territory has benefited from its easy connections with the US and an ‘open for business’ stance, which has been rewarded by carriers doubling the seat capacity when compared to 2019.”

Finally, ForwardKeys has also analysed which US airports have been the most resilient in terms of international flight activity. Looking at current bookings up to the end of June this year, Charlotte Douglas, Dallas Fort Worth and Phoenix Sky Harbor head the list of airports for international departures, measured against 2019 levels.

These insights from ForwardKeys will boost hopes for recovery in the Americas region, ahead of the upcoming Summit of the Americas – A Virtual Experience (5-9 April), at which the data analyst will deliver a key presentation on travel trends.

The event is being organised by the International Association of Airport and Duty Free Stores (IAADFS) and Asociación Sudamericana de Tiendas Libres (ASUTIL) in partnership with The Moodie Davitt Report.

The Summit of the Americas is a premium virtual trade show and symposium, complete with Main Atrium, Exhibition Hub, Knowledge Hub, and Experience Hub. It will feature a variety of stands where exhibitors can showcase products and services.

Online visitors (buyers and other retail management) will be able to view videos, read and download literature and chat with exhibitors in real-time (with real-time chat translation), as well as attending keynote presentations and panel discussions, and networking with other visiting delegates in the virtual auditorium.

Registration for the event (free to airports and travel retailers) can be found here.

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