European air traffic returned to 83% of its 2019 levels last year, a “solid” rebound pushed mostly by low-cost carriers and holiday destinations in southern Europe, air traffic monitoring group Eurocontrol.
Despite this strong performance, the group has still pushed back its estimate to a total return to pre-Covid levels by a year to 2025, citing weak economic recovery, inflation, and the risk of continuation of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Last year, European airlines and airports welcomed around 2 billion passengers, compared to 2.42 billion in 2019. Eurocontrol notes that there were “strong disparities” between countries and carriers. The statistics count all departures and arrivals on European soil.
Germany regained just 75% of its pre-Covid traffic in 2022. France 86%, Spain 91%, and Portugal 96%. Traffic in Greece exceeded the record in 2019 (101%), and Albanian traffic increased by 137%.
Low-cost carriers were the biggest winners last year, regaining 85% of their traffic from 2019, compared to 75% for conventional airlines. Ryanair has massively consolidated its position in Europe, performing 109% of its 2019 flights. Voltea also enjoyed similar success. Air France flights were at 80% of pre-Covid level, Lufthansa 72%, and British Airways 71%.
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Despite the virulent Omicron Covid-19 variant and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, airlines reached traffic numbers of up to 86% in May 2022, compared to the same period in 2019.
“In 2022, European aviation weathered the storm,” the organisation summarised.
Eurocontrol predicts that, this year, the number of flights will reach 92% of 2019 levels, but foresees a “difficult” year, as airlines battle to prevent delays, which plagued travellers last summer. Due to staffing shortages, the number of punctual flights arriving and departing Europe dropped to 72% and 66%, respectively. This is 6-7% less than in 2019.
