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Bookings for summer international air travel to destinations in the Western Hemisphere are down 26.8% from last year, according to an analysis by ForwardKeys.
The analysis, completed on March 24, includes bookings to North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Bookings for June are down 31.4%, bookings for July are off 24.6% and bookings for August are behind 23.3%.
“The setback in bookings started with the Covid-19 outbreak in the second half of January and has continued to March, when cancellations are now exceeding new bookings,” ForwardKeys said.
The analysis, however, does offer a ray of hope for the summer. Last year, said ForwardKeys, 53% of air bookings for June through August were made between May and August.
“Therefore, if the world starts to recover from the worst of the outbreak around the end of April, there is still time for a rapid booking recovery to rescue the summer season,” the analysis says.
The Covid-19 crisis, it adds, will likely make last-minute booking even more common this summer.
Source: travelweekly.com
