Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on inbound air travel to Canada
Vanessa Gabriele-Rivet, Erin Rees, Afnan Rahman, Rachael M Milwid

TL;DR
This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected air travel to Canada, showing a sharp decline followed by a gradual recovery as restrictions eased.
Contribution
The study provides a detailed analysis of how travel restrictions during the pandemic impacted inbound air travel trends to Canada.
Findings
Inbound air travel to Canada dropped by 90% at the start of the pandemic and slowly recovered.
Travel restrictions in March 2020 caused a sharp decline, while easing restrictions in August 2021 led to a recovery in travel volumes.
By the end of the study period, travel patterns had nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Abstract
Commercial air travel can result in global dispersal of infectious diseases. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many countries implemented border measures, including restrictions on air travel, to reduce the importation risk of COVID-19. In the context of inbound air travel to Canada, this study aimed to: 1) characterize travel trends before and during the pandemic, and 2) statistically assess the association between travel volumes and travel restrictions during the pandemic. Monthly commercial air travel volume data from March 2017 to February 2023 were obtained from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). National and airport-level travel trends to Canada were characterized by inbound travel volumes, the number of countries contributing travellers and the ranking of the top ten countries contributing travellers across the study period, by six…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAviation Industry Analysis and Trends · Air Traffic Management and Optimization · COVID-19 impact on air quality
