As Europe’s economies have come to a stand-still over the past weeks, so has the European airport network. Restrictions to travel and lockdowns imposed by governments as well as airlines grounding most of their fleet have resulted in passenger traffic at Europe’s airports falling off a cliff.
106 million passengers lost in March alone
Passenger traffic fell by -59.5% during the month of March, dragging Q1 passenger traffic down by -21%. But while Europe’s airports still handled 5,120,000 passengers on
1 March (-11.7% compared to the same day in 2019), that number had reduced to just 174,000 by 31 March (-97.1% compared to the same day in 2019).
Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI EUROPE said: “This is like nothing we have seen before. In the global financial crisis, it took Europe’s airports 12 months in 2009 to lose 100 million passengers. With COVID-19, it just took 31 days – the month of March – for that same passenger volume and more to vanish.”
He added: “With repatriation flights bringing back Europeans to their home countries coming to an end, what now remains is essentially limited to cargo traffic as well as sanitary and other emergency air services. While 93 airports have closed their doors – mostly secondary and smaller regional airports, more than 80% of Europe’s airports remain open to commercial air traffic.”
€23 billion
revenue loss by year end
ACI EUROPE has further revised downwards its projections as regards the impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic on the regions’ airport operators. Apart from
reflecting actual data for March, the revision was also driven by downgraded
expectations as regards the duration of lockdowns and restrictions to air
travel – including yesterday’s advice from the European Commission to the EU to
prolong the current restrictions upon non-essential travel until 15 May. These
projections now show:
- A loss of -873 million passengers for Europe’s airports in 2020, representing a decrease of -35% in a year that was predicted to see +2.3% passenger growth in a business-as-usual scenario.
- In financial terms, a loss of -€23 billion in revenues, representing a decrease of -41% compared to the business-as-usual scenario.
Commenting on the financial challenge, Jankovec said: “For now, what airports are getting to help them get through is essentially temporary unemployment schemes – although not from all countries. This is of course much welcomed, as these schemes help airports reduce costs while retaining their workforce. But airports will need them to be prolonged as long as necessary – and they also need urgent flexibility on a range of EU regulatory measures that can help them further reduce their costs.”
Jankovec added: “Airports are local jobs machines. They very often are the largest employment site in their communities, regions or even at national level. That reflects the value and role air connectivity plays for economic growth – with every +10% increase in direct connectivity yielding a +0.5% increase in GDP. This means restoring air connectivity must be at the forefront of the EU’s exit and recovery strategy. Such a strategy will need to guarantee an orderly transition from today’s patchwork of restrictions to travel – and be based on effective coordination both within the EU and internationally.”
