Emerging Markets | Europe | Global | US
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We track scheduled flights (what’s planned) and tracked flights (what took off) from a sample of the largest airports across the world.
Looking at data up to 19 December 2022:
- Global daily departures are up 2.7% WoW, now up 6.7% in December. They remain above 100,000 ahead of Christmas (Chart 1).
- China’s Covid-19 wave may not subside for another three to six months with the first wave peaking in the next one to two months. However, deaths are unlikely to spiral higher despite a lack of medical resources. That is because you must have tested positive for Covid-19 and died of respiratory failure to be classed as an official virus death, according to Wang Guiqiang. Departures continue to recover in the region (Beijing: +22.2% WoW; Shanghai: +9.4% WoW; Chart 4).
- Elsewhere, Hong Kong (5.2% WoW) loosened restrictions as Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu stuck to his ‘result-oriented’ pledge. People will no longer need to show a negative test result to enter a bar or a restaurant, and places alike. However, masks are still compulsory in public places unless exercising, and a vaccine pass is required to enter many venues. Departures continued to climb across Asia (+3.1% WoW; Chart 2).
- US departures (+2.2% WoW) picked up prior to Christmas while they have stalled in Europe (-1.5% WoW).
Information on long-term movements in flight data is available below.