Europe-Asia Pacific aviation: recovery still lags, but the gap is narrowing

The recovery in airline capacity between Europe and Asia Pacific continues to lag behind other regions to/from Europe in Feb-2024.

Unlike the North Atlantic and Europe to Latin America, for example, it remains below 2019 levels. However, with China lifting its international travel restrictions more than a year ago, the gap has narrowed.

Schedules for late Jul-2024 project a weakening of the capacity recovery, expressed as a percentage of 2019 levels. This is due to what appears to be lower than expected capacity currently scheduled from Russian operators.

That detail aside, the capacity recovery of other European airlines, and from Asia Pacific airlines, is set to continue to climb into the summer, albeit still not reaching levels enjoyed by the wider European market.

Europe-Asia Pacific has suffered both from the COVID-19 crisis – now largely in the past – and also the ongoing closure of Russian air space.