Amadeus Travel Pulse: Global air travel search nears pre-pandemic levels with surges across the world

May 30, 2022

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Corporate Communications

Amadeus

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• Global search was just 3% behind 2019 figures in the last week of April with the US, Mexico and Canada all above 2019 levels on domestic search

Global search was just 3% behind 2019 figures in the last week of April with the US, Mexico and Canada all above 2019 levels on domestic search
2022 search volumes are also outperforming 2021, reflecting an upward trend and positive momentum demonstrating the resilience of the travel sector
The data also shows that some new air routes are making an impact and over half of the top city pairs for 2019 are now fully recovered

Amadeus Travel Pulse, the most complete suite of air travel search data¹ in the travel industry, reveals that for the first four months of 2022, search volumes around the globe have been increasing, almost reaching 2019 levels.

Debbie Keller, Senior Vice President, Data and API Ecosystems, Amadeus said:

“It is incredibly encouraging to see such a strong appetite for travel around the world. Air travel search queries are one of the important data sets we study to learn about traveler sentiment and how markets are responding to quickly changing circumstances. This view of the travel ecosystem can reveal a lot about traveler confidence and willingness to travel, on which Amadeus can provide thanks to our advanced data analytics tools and wide global footprint in the travel industry.”

Traveler search in 2022 is close to 2019

Global search volumes in the last week of April were only 3% down versus the same period in 2019, confirming that traveler confidence and appetite to travel continues to strengthen. There were double-digit increases in many key markets during the whole month of April, with searches from Mexico (+69%), Canada (+29%) and the US (+7%) seeing single digit growth.

Domestic searches are leading the recovery, reaching positive territory in the last week of April with a 4% increase versus 2019. Markets such as India (+47%) and Italy (+82%) are leading the charge.

While domestic has recovered the most, other segments are also showing real strength. Intra-regional searches in the last week of April were only 4% down versus 2019, with impressive growth coming from the UK (+35%) and France (+38%). International search is also performing strongly. Argentina is seeing one of the best recoveries, 24% ahead of 2019 levels.

Traveler search comparisons with 2021

Search is significantly ahead on a global scale when comparing 2021 with 2022 to date. The first four months of 2022 are on average 69% ahead of the same period last year.

Looking at the monthly figures, January was 37% ahead year-on-year; February 77% ahead; March 67% ahead. Finally, April is ahead by 94% compared to the previous year’s searches.

Compared to the first four months of 2021, domestic search continues to lead the way, again, seeing a 73% increase, while intra-regional search is up 72%, and international search is up 61%.

City pairs and routes

The data also reveals other aspects of the airline industry are returning to familiar territory. This is true for many city pairs – especially the most well-established routes around the globe.

Of the 16 most popular routes, nine of them are seeing search volumes comparable with 2019 including Delhi-Toronto (+32%), Tel Aviv-New York (+90%); Seoul-New York (+10%); Buenos Aires-Madrid (+49%) and Montreal-Paris (+60%) among others.

Regional leaders are emerging in EMEA and APAC, with searches to and from London and Seoul dominating, respectively.

Notes to Editors:

¹Origin of Data: These data points are based on research by Amadeus data science teams. Data is drawn from a custom search dataset,Amadeus Master Pricer , andAmadeus Agency Insights .

Amadeus Air Search Travel Data is the most complete suite of air data in the travel industry and includes shopping transactions performed by +2,500 customers including the world’s top travel agencies. It consists of consolidated data generated by daily transactions.

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