August 16, 2023 · Christophe Potocki
Commercial aviation opportunities in APAC following the reopening of China
The reopening of commercial aviation in Asia has inevitably followed a different timeline to Europe.
While standardization of border crossing regulations in Asia have lagged behind the rest of the world, becoming a point of friction when it comes to travel resuming, demand has picked up again. The China Air Transport Association (CATA) is claiming aviation has returned to near pre-pandemic level, while software business Sabre has identified significant spikes in demand for flights into China as Covid restrictions were relaxed and tourist visas were issued earlier this year. Meanwhile, domestic airlines in India carried a record 13 million passengers in March, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation Data and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has predicted the country’s air traffic will recover to 2019 levels this year.
Ultimately, while the bounce back is incomplete and imbalanced, we can see some green shoots of recovery, meaning aviation businesses can respond smartly to seize new opportunities.