25 January 2023 – The post-pandemic recovery continues progressing steadily, which is reflected in 2023 travel demand.  Kiwi.com’s comprehensive data shows that bookings* are up by 170% compared to last year, while searches exceed 4 billion.

The most booked destinations so far this year are Spain, followed by the United States, Italy, Thailand and the United Kingdom. On a city level, Bangkok, London, Milan, Barcelona and Rome are spotted in the top five, followed by Kuala Lumpur, Paris and Manila. 

Although half of the booking share falls within the European continent, the recovery of the Asian market is strongly visible. The Asian market holds 31% of the booking share, compared to last year’s 22%, while Phuket City to Bangkok is the top route booked, and Seoul to Tokyo is the most searched.  

The average ticket price has increased by 11.4% compared to the same period last year,  but  23% cheaper than pre-pandemic.  When looking at ticket prices related to the duration of the flight, a similar trend is seen for short-haul (1500 – 3999km) and medium-haul (0 – 1499km) flights. The price of long-haul flights (4000km+) have increased by 4% compared to pre-pandemic levels.  

In terms of when is the best time to buy flight tickets – Mario Gavira, VP of Growth at Kiwi.com, comments, “As a general advice, the sooner customers book their tickets this year, the more likely it is that they will get better prices.  We expect the demand for air travel to remain strong, which will translate into a gradual increase in prices the closer the customers book to their travel dates”.

The average booking window is also seeing a slight shift. During the pandemic last-minute flights were particularly popular, while this year, most customers (39%) are booking their trips three weeks to two months in advance. 

*Bookings made between 1 Dec 2022-12 Jan 2023 to travel in 2023 vs 1 Dec 2021-12 Jan 2022 to travel in 2022

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About Kiwi.com

Kiwi.com is a leading global travel tech company headquartered in the Czech Republic, employing over 1,500 people worldwide. Kiwi.com’s innovative algorithm enables users to find better route options and prices other search engines can’t see, performing 2 billion price checks per day across 95% of global flight content. 100 million searches are carried out every day on Kiwi.com’s website and an average of over 60,000 seats are sold daily.

Media Contacts

Kiwi.com
Elena Sokolnikova, PR & Communications Consultant, Kiwi.com
[email protected]