A new report from travel analysis firm ForwardKeys has found that the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has not only had an impact on the demand for flights to and from the Middle East, but has also caused a more generalized slowdown in the global aviation industry.
The report found that international flight bookings for destinations around the world have fallen since Hamas launched the attacks which set off the conflict on October 7th, killing more than 1400 people and kidnapping over a hundred more. Since then, Israel has reportedly killed more than 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza in the retaliatory bombings, according to Palestinian authorities.
In a statement, Olivier Ponti, the vice president of insights at ForwardKeys, said, “This war is a catastrophic, heartbreaking, human tragedy that we are all seeing daily on our TV screens. That is bound to put people off traveling to the region, but it has also dented consumer confidence in traveling elsewhere too.”
According to the data, bookings for international flights from the Americas fell 10% over the three weeks following the Hamas attacks, when compared with the three weeks prior to the attacks.
Meanwhile, individuals in the Middle East have cut back on their travel, as over the same period, the region saw a 9% drop in international flight tickets. At the same time, the issuance of tickets for international flights to the region plummeted 26% in the three weeks following the attacks.
The report stated, “Within the region affected by the Israel-Hamas conflict, Israel has suffered the worst, with many airlines having cancelled flights,” adding that Israel was followed by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt.
Across all regions, international flight bookings fell 5% on average, which has dented the global recovery international air travel was enjoying following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ponti noted that as of a day prior to the October 7th attacks, global air travel was poised to recover 95% of its 2019 levels in the last quarter of the year. However as of late October, it was only projected to recover to 88% of its 2019 levels.
