Keeping up with the current buoyancy in air travel, an estimated additional 115 million passengers in the Middle East, along with Eastern Europe and Africa will fly in 2022 compared to last year, a latest research said.
The UK has been the choice destination for travellers from the Middle East in the ongoing recovery in air leisure travel, Mastercard Economics Institute said in its ‘Travel 2022: Trends and Transitions’ report.
The UK’s “Freedom Day” lifting of restrictions in July 2021 contributed to this trend.
European destinations make up most of the top 10 destinations for travelers from Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa, the report, based on flight booking trends analysis, said.
The Mastercard institute said recovery in international travel bookings in the Middle East accelerated from mid-2021 after the launch of Covid vaccination campaigns and eased travel requirements in the Western hemisphere.
“It [the recovery] has also been supported by Middle Eastern national carriers increasing their scheduled flights to more destinations,” the report said.
The report also revealed that global leisure flight bookings surpassed 2019 levels by 25 percent by April end, with short and medium-haul leisure flight bookings rising by up to 25 percent and 27 percent, respectively.
“Like any flight, the travel recovery has faced both headwinds and tailwinds. As the ‘Great Rebalancing’ takes place around the world, this mobility is critical to a return to pre-pandemic life,” said Bricklin Dwyer, Mastercard chief economist and head of the Mastercard Economics Institute.
“The resilience of the consumer to return to ‘normal’ and make up for lost time gives us optimism that the recovery will continue directionally, even if there are bumps along the way,” Dwyer added.
Bricklin Dwyer, Mastercard chief economist and head of the Mastercard Economics Institute
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