Global flight searches had recovered to just 3% behind pre-pandemic 2019 levels in the last week of April, latest statistics reveal.
Search volumes around the globe have been increasing in the first four months of the year to almost reach 2019 levels, according to Amadeus.
The recovery in late April confirmed that traveller confidence and appetite to travel continues to strengthen, the company claimed.
Double-digit increases were recorded in many key markets during the whole month of April, with searches from Mexico up 69% and Canada 29% while the US saw single digit growth of 7%.
Intra-regional searches in the last week of April were only 4% down versus 2019, with “impressive growth” coming from the UK, up 35%, and France, up 38%.
The first four months of 2022 are on average 69% ahead of the same period last year. January was 37% ahead year-on-year; February 77% ahead; March 67% ahead and April 94% ahead.
Domestic flight search continues to lead the way, seeing a 73% increase, while intra-regional search is up 72%, and international search is up 61%.
Of the 16 most popular city pair routes, nine of them are seeing search volumes comparable with 2019 including Delhi-Toronto (up 32%), Tel Aviv-New York (up 90%); Seoul-New York (up 10%); Buenos Aires-Madrid (up 49%) and Montreal-Paris (up 60%) among others.
Regional leaders are emerging in EMEA and APAC, with searches to and from London and Seoul dominating.
Amadeus data and API ecosystems senior vice president Debbie Keller said: “It is incredibly encouraging to see such a strong appetite for travel around the world.
“Air travel search queries are one of the important data sets we study to learn about traveler sentiment and how markets are responding to quickly changing circumstances.
“This view of the travel ecosystem can reveal a lot about traveler confidence and willingness to travel, on which Amadeus can provide thanks to our advanced data analytics tools and wide global footprint in the travel industry.”