FCM report forecasts flights across APAC region to grow by a fifth in Q4

FCM Consulting, part of the Flight Centre Travel Group, has released its APAC Quarterly Trend Report Q3-2021 reporting a Q4-2021 forecast growth of 19.7% in flights across the APAC region. In numbers that would be an extra 419,000 flights. The outlook for accommodation is also more optimistic with forward bookings up 17% on 2020 across the APAC region. The report uses global data sourced from FCM corporate bookings for travel during July-September 2021, Cirium aviation data as of 12 October 2021, and vaccine data sourced through Our World in Data as of 15 October 2021. “We’ve been championing vaccinations as the pathway to freedom for a long time now and all of our data points to confidence returning in the travel industry for business, leisure, and those combining the two for a ‘bleisure’ trip,” said FCM general manager Australia Melissa Elf. “It’s been a big couple of weeks for announcements at both home and abroad in terms of the lifting of restrictions and changes to quarantine and we can now look forward to a positive Q4,” she added. “It’s early days, but a forecast of a near-20% increase in flights for Q4 is a confident step forward for the travel industry. We’ve been speaking about green shoots for a while and they’re starting to flourish now,” said FCM Consulting general manager Felicity Burke. “Expanding the international travel for Singapore and the opening up of Australia will enable more corporates to conduct business meetings overseas once again. These numbers point to the fact that people want to meet face-to-face, connect, and grow their business,” Burke added. “Singapore is an excellent proof point of international borders gradually opening up. Our stats shows once they opened VTLs (vaccinated travel lanes) to Germany and Brunei in August, booking demand leapt 89%, paving the way for Singapore’s Changi Airport to recover from its three per cent operation,” she said. Across the APAC region the report indicates the continuation of short booking lead times of one to seven days, signalling travellers are maintaining fluid travel plans. “Hotels are re-opening to the public after concluding government quarantine services and many are taking the opportunity to refresh and re-launch their offering in 2022,” said Burke. To read the full report, click here.