Bans and restrictions continue but TAAI hopes for air travel revival

According to the IATA’s statistics, expectations for the near-term recovery of air travel have shifted slightly, reflecting the evolution of government- imposed travel restrictions in some markets

PRAVASISAMWAD.COM

The International Flight Transport Association (IATA), has mentioned that the total number of air passengers in the world will approach four billion in 2024, up 3 per cent from the pre-Covid level in 2019. Commenting on the development, Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI said according to the IATA’s statistics, expectations for the near-term recovery of air travel have shifted slightly, reflecting the evolution of government- imposed travel restrictions in some markets.

“The overall picture presented is, however, unchanged, from what was expected in November 2021, prior to the emergence of Omicron variant. The numbers and data shared by IATA looks encouraging but with restrictions placed on scheduled international commercial flights in India, airfares are skyrocketing and with limited seats and ongoing cancellations due to Ukraine-Russia crisis, situation looks grim. Our industry is always the first to be hit and last to recover. We hope our Indian numbers will grow up and become a part of the recovery of the air traffic. We are resilient and need to be optimistic and show a little more patience to be on track and revive,” she said.

“The numbers and data shared by IATA looks encouraging but with restrictions placed on scheduled international commercial flights in India, airfares are skyrocketing and with limited seats and ongoing cancellations due to Ukraine-Russia crisis, situation looks grim.”
— Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI

Jay Bhatia, VP, TAAI added: “People want to travel, and when the travel restrictions are lifted, they return to the skies. There is still a long way to go to reach a normal state of affairs, but the forecast for the evolution in passenger numbers gives good reason to be optimistic”.

Shreeram Patel, Treasurer, TAAI said that the economic and social hardship, caused for very limited benefit, is simply no longer acceptable in a growing number of markets. “As a result, the progressive removal of restrictions is giving a much-needed boost to the prospects for travel.”

************************************************************************

Readers

These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.

Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world.  We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.

Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.

In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.

For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com