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 12 December 2022:
- Global daily departures are up 2.4% WoW, now up 3.9% in December. They have returned above 100,000 ahead of Christmas (Chart 1).
- China has abandoned the health code and centralised quarantine, alongside other relaxed measures. On 7 December, the National Health Commission adjusted 10 protocols. And now, China’s travel code is due to go offline. It was used to track whether someone had travelled to an area with Covid-19 cases. However, the reopening has been far from smooth. China has postponed its key economic policy meeting. Departures remain some way below their prior norms; the large (percentage) jump in departures (Beijing: 72.3% WoW; Shanghai: +21.6% WoW) reflects a low base rather than extreme demand (Chart 4). Meanwhile, Hong Kong further loosened quarantine requirements. As of 9 December, quarantine has been reduced to five days from seven, alongside other changes. Departures accelerated (+4.1% WoW) from the region, as of late.
- US (-0.7% WoW) and European (-0.9% WoW) departures are yet to find their feet in the lead up to Christmas.
Information on long-term movements in flight data is available below.