The CAA said on Wednesday (17 August) there were nonetheless "strong indications" consumer confidence is rebounding in air travel, despite the challenges soaring demand is posing for the aviation industry.

From the start of April to the end of June, passenger numbers more than doubled compared with Q1 (three months to 31 March) while the total number of flights increased by 63%.

Factors driving up passenger numbers included the lifting of all remaining Covid travel restrictions at the end of March, and subsequent Easter, May half-term and Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations.

In total, 63 million passengers flew in and out of the UK during Q2 2022 on 477,559 flights; this compares with 31 million on 292,764 flights during Q1 and represents a 23% decline in passenger numbers compared with Q2 2019.

Load factors edged closer to pre-pandemic levels during Q2 down, rising to 80% – just 5% shy of where they were in Q2 2019. June passenger numbers peaked at 82% of 2019 levels in the week beginning 6 June.

‘Strong indications of consumer confidence’

"With all Covid travel restrictions lifted at the end of March 2022 in the UK, quarter two saw strong indications of consumer confidence in air travel," said the CAA. "However, the increased passenger demand proved challenging for the industry to cope with [during Q2], leading to some travel disruption including flight cancellations and delays."

The average flight delay increased from 12 minutes in Q1 to 25 minutes in Q2; this compares with 15 minutes during Q2 2019. Nearly 60% of Q2 flights, meanwhile, left "on-time", down from 79% in Q1.

At the height of the disruption to air travel during Q2, cancellations peaked at 4.7% of all flights – however, the average for the quarter was 1.6%, up from 0.7% in Q2 2019.