Travel recovery on the horizon: DBS

DBS analysts say the worst is over for Asean airports as they emerge from lockdowns and airport throughputs recover, albeit at a gradual pace.

Positive vaccine development news also brings forward the recovery trajectory for air travel.

"On the back of positive vaccine news from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna on their vaccine candidates' development and efficacy, we are increasingly optimistic that commercialisation of at least two COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 should help air travel recover to pre-COVID levels at an earlier date of IATA's forecast range," they said in a report on Friday.

In the short term, travel demand improvement will be supported by domestic travel and bilateral travel arrangements in fast/green lanes and travel bubbles.

Regionally, countries with a low number of daily Covid-19 new cases include Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and China. The analysts said they see these countries as potential candidates to be part of travel bubbles going forward, especially if the air travel between Singapore and Hong Kong proves to be a success.