As COVID 19 continues to impact the global air travel industry, the latest data from Skytra, the Airbus subsidiary, shows a rising average ticket prices across all major regions, with flights between Asia Pacific and the EU rising by 34%.
Skytra signed up a tie-up with IATA at the start of April to use these industry association’s pricing data to track the impact of COVID 19 and the latest figures show green shoot for the aviation sector with what Skytra called a “dramatic” increase in ticket prices for flights between APAC-EU of 34%, while prices for flights between APAC- NA have also surpassed previous years.
According to Skytra these price rises are likely driven by several factors. The major reductions in capacity around the world, the fact that the majority of travel is for the moment essential or repatriation flights as well as in certain cases a shortening of average trip length (shorter flights have higher prices per km).
Skytra’s chief executive said, “We are entering a new phase in Covid-19’s impact on the global air travel industry. Bookings are beginning to pick up again as passengers start to undertake essential travel. We are observing a new pricing equilibrium driven by an adjustment in flight capacity and demand reviving from extraordinarily low levels. It is an evolving picture and affects prices in each market in a different way."