CORRECTED: Air travel demand seen soaring 28% to near pre-pandemic level in 2023

Global air passenger traffic is expected to soar 28.3 percent to 4.35 billion people in 2023, returning to near the pre-pandemic level of 2019 with Asia-Pacific airlines benefiting from a sharp recovery in demand, according to estimates by an industry body.

The projected passenger number is higher than 3.39 billion fliers in 2022 and represents about 96 percent of the 4.54 billion fliers four years ago, owing to the removal of COVID-19 border control measures, the International Air Transport Association said in a recent report.

Air travel demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPK...