The jet era that globalized air travel for half a century was brought to an abrupt halt with COVID. Now, planes are back in the skies, but flying’s proliferation is in reverse: Fewer aircraft are plying a smaller network, and fares are up.
Thousands of flights each month have been wiped from schedules into major hubs including Singapore, London and Doha, Cirium data show. It’s more expensive to fly almost anywhere overseas. And while some markets such as the U.S. are just about back to pre-virus capacity, swathes of Asia and Europe are wallowing more than one-quarter below 2019 levels.
A swift post-virus rebound in demand has overwhelmed an airline industry that has lost about $187 billion since 2020 under the weight of travel restrictions. Short of planes and crew, the sector has dropped more than 2,000 city-to-city connections that existed in 2019, and carriers are charging more for tickets on many routes. Air travel, the data show, is for the richer and the fewer.
