Confidence in the summer travel season set against worries caused by rising fuel prices – Europe’s airlines face a complex environment, finds Mark Broadbent
European air traffic growth was stronger than in any other region, reported the International Air Transport Association in May 2022.
Traffic rose 425.4% in March 2022 year-on-year, with capacity up 224.5% and load factors by 27.8% to 72.7%.
EUROCONTROL director general Eamonn Brennan reported in early May 2022 that total European network traffic was 85% of 2019 levels in April 2022, with an average of 26,706 daily flights. Fortunes are clearly improving as COVID-19 travel restrictions ease and carriers restore networks and reintroduce aircraft across the region.
EUROCONTROL expects traffic to recover to 89% of the pre-pandemic 2019 levels by August 2022, rising to 92% by year-end, with a total of around 9.3 million flights throughout Europe in the full year.
