Nearly 200 airports –
mainly regional ones – face insolvency in the coming months and government financial
support will be required to “avert geographic equality and damaged social cohesion”,
the organisation which represents Europe’s airports has said.
ACI Europe says there was a
year-on-year decrease of 73 per cent in passenger traffic at Europe’s airports
in September and that the total number of ‘lost’ passengers since
January has now reached 1.29 billion. It said 193 airports face
insolvency in the coming months if passenger traffic does not start to recover
by the year end.
The organisation said: “The
airports facing insolvency are mainly regional airports which serve – and are
integral to – local communities. The potential ripple-effect upon local
employment and economies is clear. Financial support from government will be
crucial in averting rising geographic inequality and damaged social cohesion.
“At the same time, larger European airports and hubs are not immune from the
critical financial risk. They have cut costs to the bone and have resorted to
the financial markets to shore up balance sheets and build emergency war
chests."
Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, said, “In the midst of a second wave, ensuring safe air travel
continues to be our primary concern. It’s crucial that we reduce the risks of
importation and dissemination as much as possible. But surely we can do a much
better job of reducing those risks by testing air passengers rather than with
quarantines that cannot be enforced.”
He added: “The figures
published today paint a dramatically bleak picture. Eight months into the
crisis, all of Europe’s airports are burning through cash to remain open, with
revenues far from covering the costs of operations, let alone capital costs.
Governments’ current imposition of quarantines rather than testing is bringing
Europe’s airports closer to the brink with every day that passes.”