For the first time since the outbreak of the Corona Virus pandemic, the search engine in Google for the word "flights" has become more than the search for the word "Covid-19 ″, which is the scientific name for the emerging corona virus, and this shift occurred in mid-May last, according to statistics of the Federation International air transport, and in light of some countries in the world reducing the precautionary restrictions imposed on flights, especially domestic ones.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a statement today that the search for "flights" in Google's engine increased by 25% at the end of last month, compared to the level recorded at the end of last April, although this rise in research remains very low Compared to the level recorded at the beginning of this year by 60%.
According to a graph included in a presentation by "Brian Pierce" chief economist in "IATA", that the search for "flights" witnessed a great collapse since the second half of last March due to the rapid spread of the virus in various countries of the world, to reach this "free fall" The bottom in the third week of last April, and then begins to rise slightly at the end of the same month, to record a 25% increase at the end of last May.
Changes in the search, in
contrast, the search frequency for the word "Covid-19" increased by a missile increase from the first week of last March to touch the peak in the third week of the same month, then begins to gradually decline, then the decline in the search for the word "virus" started From the third week of last April, to become less than flights searches in the second week of last month.
Google Trends, which specializes in monitoring what is written in the Google engine, reports that most of the countries whose residents were interested in searching for "flights" in the last thirty days were in a row: Albania, New Zealand, Canada, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates .
One indication of the increasing search for people on flights, and related topics, is that the search for the word "Indigo" for the Indian airline increased by 750% in the past thirty days, and the search for the name of "Swiss International Airlines" increased by 400%, The phrase "pre-travel reservation" (Check-in) increased by 160%, and "international flight" by 140%.
In the same period, Google searches for the following phrases also rose skyrocketing:
- Flight tips: 1000%
- Flight quarantine rules: 350%
- Is air travel safe: 110%
- The future of flights: 70%
Overcoming the worst
The International Air Transport Association, which represents 290 airlines in the world that secures 82% of flights in the world, stated that the demand for air transport services began to recover from the repercussions of the Corona virus after witnessing its worst cases in April, as the demand for flights Passengers increased by 94%, compared to April 2019.
The closures and sanitary isolation measures in various countries of the world have resulted in almost complete cessation of flights, both within and between countries, and a few airlines continued to operate flights of limited number in order to return stranded travelers to their countries of origin.
International flights worldwide decreased by 98.4% last April, compared to a decrease of 58.1% in the previous March, while domestic flights in the world decreased in April by 87%, after declining by 51% in the month. The one before it.
The latest data from the International Air Transport Association indicate that daily flights increased by 30% between April 21 and May 27, but they are still 73% below the level recorded on January 1, 2020.
Thus, the first domestic flight in Turkey appeared after the resumption of flights today for the first time since they stopped about three months ago due to Corona, provided that international flights be resumed on the tenth of this month pic.twitter.com/r3j7AUXf73
- Ismail Kaya, Ismail Kaya (@ Ismail_kaya88) June 1, 2020
Domestic flights
IATA explains that the increase in demand for flights is mainly due to the operation of domestic flights in some markets, especially in eastern Asia. At the end of last May, domestic flights in South Korea, China and Vietnam increased to levels that decrease by 22% And 28% of the level recorded in the same period in 2019.
In order to motivate people to book travel tickets, airlines reduced their prices for domestic flights by 23% last month compared to the same period in 2019, in light of the continued interruption of international flights until one hour in most regions of the world.