Data from ForwardKeys, a travel movement analytics company, has shown a decline in international flight bookings worldwide since the outbreak of the latest conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, particularly in the Americas, where people have canceled their trips to the Middle East and various parts of the world. Global travel demand has decreased since the Hamas attack on Israel, which reportedly resulted in 1,400 deaths on October 7. Following this, Israel conducted airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza, which Palestinian authorities claim have killed over 10,000.
Olivier Ponti, Vice President of Analytics at ForwardKeys, stated, "This war is a catastrophic human tragedy that we are all witnessing daily on our TV screens... This is likely to deter people from traveling to the region, and it is also affecting customer confidence in travel to other destinations." International flight bookings from the Americas dropped by ten percent in the three weeks following October 7, compared to the number of tickets issued three weeks prior to the attack, according to ForwardKeys ticket data. Travel movement in the Middle East also declined, with international flight tickets issued in the region decreasing by nine percent during the same period. International flight bookings for travel to the region fell by 26 percent in the three weeks following the attack.
Overall, international flight bookings decreased by five percent on average across regions, affecting the global recovery in travel following the pandemic. Ponti noted that bookings on the day before the attack indicated that global air travel in the fourth quarter would recover to 95 percent of 2019 levels, but by late October, expectations had dropped to 88 percent.
