European airline traffic neared pre-Covid levels in August, with full passenger recovery “in sight”, according to the latest figures from airports association ACI Europe.
ACI Europe said that traffic reached 96.6 per cent of 2019 levels in August, just below the July peak which saw traffic return to 97 per cent of pre-Covid levels – the best performance for the European aviation sector since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
Following continued demand over the summer period, the organisation has revised its full-year 2023 forecast upwards to 95.5 per cent of pre-pandemic volumes, up from 91 per cent in its previous forecast (December 2022). Full passenger traffic recovery is now expected in 2024 instead of 2025, as stated in the previous forecast.
Nevertheless, ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec warned of “significant” performance variations between airports in the region due to geopolitical concerns and structural market changes.
“What we are seeing is that not all airports are recovering at the same pace. While close to 50 per cent of Europe’s airports have now exceeded their pre-pandemic passenger volumes – with some even experiencing exponential growth – all others remain below, with some still struggling to recover more dynamically,” he said in a statement.
“This means that many airports might not get back to their pre-pandemic volumes before 2026, or even later,” he added.
As of August 2022, the delta in performance against pre-pandemic passenger levels across European markets ranged from -34 per cent to +100 per cent, according to ACI figures, something Jankovec said was unprecedented.
“In the past, when faced with systemic shocks such as 9/11 or the global financial crisis, most airports tended to recover at a similar pace. Not this time,” he added.
“This is down to the war in Ukraine and resulting restrictions on air traffic impacting certain markets, along with structural changes in the aviation market post Covid-19.”