As the busy summer season swung into action, what was the forecast for Europe’s airlines – would it be blue skies and sunshine, or was turbulence ahead? The experts from Cirium took a closer look
A successful summer season can make or break an airline, and carriers across Europe spend months gearing up for the traditional busy period. Looking back to the first six months of 2023, nearly half a million (447,646) flights departed UK airports – the equivalent of more than 79 million seats. While this figure was only 85% of 2019 pre-COVID-19 level, outbound flights were up nearly a quarter (23%) on the same period last year and a hefty 453% over the first half of 2021, as the industry continued to build back from the pandemic and the widespread staffing shortages that hampered operations last summer.
The latest data from Cirium shows these impressive figures were not a one-off. In fact, the industry was poised to see further growth this summer. During July 2023, the start of the school holidays, 92,404 flights were scheduled to depart UK airports – equating to more than 16.5 million seats, making it the busiest month since October 2019.
Once August is taken into account too, the figure doubles to 186,220 UK departures and more tha…
