European air passenger traffic fell 20 per cent in the three weeks following the first reports from South Africa of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, while load factors dropped from 66 per cent (week 46) to 54 per cent (week 49).
The data was released by European airport trade body ACI Europe which noted that passenger traffic rose nine per cent in week 49 (versus week 48) as the festive season got underway.
Nevertheless, the organisation warned that the “reversal of the recovery dynamic” means overall passenger traffic in 2021 will fall short of its forecast of a 60 per cent slump compared to 2019 volumes. In addition, it warned of an uncertain outlook for Q1 of 2022.
“It is no surprise that the flight bans to Southern Africa and the patchy travel restrictions imposed by many governments on other markets – including within Europe – have directly impacted traffic levels in the past weeks,” said Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe.
“Business travel has been the first to recede, now followed by leisure travel given the extreme uncertainty and prospects of more restrictions both on travel and local life. Last week’s data shows that only 'Visiting Family and Relatives’ travel is somehow holding up for now, as Europeans are craving getting together and reuniting with loved ones for Christmas.”
Jankovec added that the emergence of Omicron will affect passenger traffic in the first quarter of 2022 but the extent of the impact will “primarily depend on whether governments continue with knee-jerk reactions or not”.
“Omicron is fast becoming the dominant variant across Europe, which according to the ECDC makes travel restrictions ineffective from a public health perspective and highly damaging both economically and socially.”
Overall November passenger traffic in the European airport network was down by 35.2 per cent on the same period in 2019 – a marginal improvement on the 36.7 per cent deficit posted in October.
ACI noted that the pace of improvement in the EU+ area was low despite the reopening of the transatlantic market and mainly reflects the impact of Omicron. Passenger traffic at airports in the rest of Europe, meanwhile, actually worsened, falling back to a 19 per cent decline (versus 2019) compared to a 17.4 per cent drop in October.
Istanbul (-30.4 per cent) was the busiest European airport in November, while London Heathrow (-50.8 per cent) rejoined the top five, in fifth position, for the first time since May 2020. Paris CDG was second busiest, Madrid third and Amsterdam-Schiphol fourth.