Airport passenger traffic across Europe is recovering at a faster than expected rate, with ACI Europe (Airports Council International) on Friday revising its 2022 forecast to 22 per cent below 2019 levels over the full year – up from the previous forecast of -32 per cent, published last October.
A full recovery to pre-pandemic volumes is now expected for 2024 rather than 2025.
However, the airport association sounded a note of caution, pointing to the ‘triple jeopardy’ of geopolitics, worsening economic conditions and the threat of new Covid-19 variants creating significant uncertainty.
ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec said eased travel restrictions and pent-up demand has created an ‘optimistic scenario’, but this is largely fuelled by leisure traffic and low cost carrier capacity expansion.
Jankovec also stressed caution as “we still do not have an established playbook in Europe – let alone globally – on how to deal with future Covid-19 variants when it comes to travel”.
“Beyond the immediate operational challenges from staffing issues, there is no escape from rising geopolitical tensions and stagflation fears meaning risks for air traffic only go one direction – down,” he added.
The association also urged governments and regulators to stop ‘feuding over financial percentage points’ in order to restore the balance sheet strength needed to avoid an airport investment crunch.