There’s seemingly no facet of our society or economy that’s not been impacted by the dreaded 11-letter epidemic.
COVID-19 has done a number on countless industries, but there are few that compare to what the aviation field has endured.
With several restrictions and travel bans being enforced, airlines saw their profits plummet. Fortunately, some domestic routes are starting to pick back up, and Asia is at the forefront of these exciting returns.
This month, Asia has had the world’s busiest domestic routes, and they’re showing no signs of a slowdown.
Related: Hawaii sees over 200K tourists in 1st month of reopening
The busiest DOMESTIC flights during Covid times
South Korea has seen the most activity, with around 1.3 million passengers traveling between Seoul and Jeju Island in November alone.
To put this figure into perspective, about 48,000 seats were reserved for this passage per day before the pandemic hit.
China and Japan aren’t far behind, and their most sought-after trip is from Beijing to Shanghai. An astounding 768,184 seats have been booked so far this month.
The busiest INTERNATIONAL flights during COVID times
Unfortunately, international travel isn’t ramping up nearly as fast. Currently, the busiest route in November is from Cairo to Jeddah, and there’s only been a measly 147,950 reservations.
Equally disappointing are the numbers that Hong Kong is seeing. Only 93,922 seats have been purchased from Hong Kong to Taipei, a grim comparison to the eight million tickets they sold last year.
Even worse, Cirium, a travel analytics company, shared that 31 percent of the world’s passenger jet fleet was put into storage earlier this month, signaling a massive decline in the demand for this aircraft.
Related: 12 Places to Travel for US citizens during COVID
Regarding the future of travel, we can expect to see significant changes for years to come. In other words, the fallout of the coronavirus will be as consequential as the pandemic itself. Experts maintain that flights will remain cheap so that airlines can recoup their losses.
However, though the prices will be favorable, passengers will have fewer flights to choose from. More specifically, there won’t be as many flights flying out of smaller cities like Del Rio, New Windsor, and Williamsport.
What’s more, business travel is likely to remain stagnant. Analysts share their predictions, stating that corporate trips will remain 25 percent below their pre-pandemic levels for some time.
Moreover, it’s probable that more airline workers will get the boot. These long-term projections are undoubtedly unsettling, but it’s better to embrace this reality than to deny it.