Asia-Pacific and Middle East airports witness green shoots of recovery: Airport Industry Outlook

Asia-Pacific and Middle East airports witness green shoots of recovery: Airport Industry Outlook

Overview

The industry showed encouraging signs of recovery in the first quarter of 2022— capacity was rebuilding in many parts of Asia Pacific and Middle East region; domestic passenger traffic made considerable progress; cargo growth has proven to be resilient and is above pre-pandemic levels. Despite the subdued pandemic environment, airports in the region continued to provide a safe and high service quality for the benefit of their passengers.

However, travel restrictions ranging from mandatory quarantines in designated facilities to pre-departure testing and on-arrival; suspension of international air travel in some parts of the region; geopolitical conflict and subsequent impacts on macroeconomic factors have proved to be detrimental to the overall growth of aviation.

“Analysis shows that travel restrictions have to a large degree failed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 mainly due to the high infectious nature of the omicron variant and have turned out to be a deterrent for the recovery of aviation, impacting the economy of the region. Cargo business proves on the contrary the leading role that Asia-Pacific plays in the global economy. Despite an improving trend, airport financial margins remained far below pre-pandemic levels and are economically unsustainable. It is therefore time to remove ineffective restrictions and enable