The Week In Travel

This week the International Air Transport Association (IATA) hailed the continued recovery of air passenger travel through March, with the revelation of key traffic figures for the month. Particularly strong recovery was seen in Europe, where March traffic rose to 425% of what it was in the same month a year ago. Total global traffic – measured in revenue passenger kilometres – is still 41% below the figures for March 2019, and IATA director-general Willie Walsh also warned of the impact of delays at airports caused by insufficient resources to cope with the surge in demand for travel. Walsh also warned of government impediments to travel, citing the Netherlands as an example – where the government is planning to increase passenger taxes by $400 million over the next few years.

After North American carriers last week announced a strong recovery of business travel in the US, Air France-KLM this week issued a similar announcement on corporate travel in Europe. Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith said in a statement that “March was notably very encouraging with a significant increase in demand for corporate and premium traffic.” Corporate travel has reached roughly 70% of pre-pandemic levels for the carrier. This positive report comes despite the surges in fuel prices that followed the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

New Zealand this week reopened its borders to international travellers following a strict isolation since March 2020. The country initially reopened to Australian travellers on the 13th of April and has now dropped restrictions to 60 countries, provided travellers can show proof of vaccination or a negative covid test. The national carrier, Air New Zealand welcomed the news. Air New Zealand raised $1.2 billion with a rights offer to shareholders, which will be used to repay government loans issued to support the carrier over the two-year period.

And finally, an Oklahoma couple held a spur of the moment wedding on a plane from Dallas, after their flight was delayed and they missed their appointment at the chapel in Las Vegas. The couple were already dressed for the wedding, and there just so happened to be an ordained minister on board who was able to conduct the ceremony. The flight attendants cleared an entire row of seats for the ceremony, where they lit the call lights to provide the required ambience. The officiant donned a sash of snack mixes and cocktail straws.