Airlines are paying out more in consumer refunds globally than they have access to revenue despite most carriers substituting vouchers or rebooking options for cash refunds for cancelled flights.
Airbus-owned airline data analyst Skytra reports heavily discounted prices on the remaining flights operating and on future bookings amid the worldwide travel restrictions due to Covid-19.
Skytra notes the one piece of light for airlines in the past week is a pick-up in sales on routes from Asia to Europe and North America.
The company’s weekly Covid-19 analysis is derived from airline association Iata’s data, reflecting 83% of global air travel by value.
It assesses the value of tickets issued over the past week compared with the same week in 2019, the price per kilometre of fares in different markets, the cumulative change in price and ticket revenue since January and how much travel is being booked for the remainder of 2020.
Skytra reports “refunds keeping pace with ticket sales in most markets”, with industry revenues down “by 100% or more” in the past week.
“Sales for upcoming months remain low with a drop of about 100% compared to 2019 [and] refunds outstripping sales.”
It notes the only exceptions as routes from Asia to Europe and Asia to North America “where the past week has seen a slight rise in sales for May although still 75% below the level of last year”.
North America “continues to see a certain level of sales for the final quarter” of this year, although “significantly lower” than last year, Skytra reports.
On fares, it notes: “The Asia-Pacific market seems to have bottomed out with prices about 15% lower than could be expected for this period.”
Average fares in Europe are down 25% and in North America down 30%.
