The air traffic monitoring group Eurocontrol has predicted that the number of European flights will only reach pre-pandemic levels of 11.1 million flights by 2025.
As a record number of flights took off in Europe throughout 2019, the year before the onset of Covid-19, the European flight industry has been attempting to reach similar pre-pandemic levels. Last year, Eurocontrol found that European air traffic had reached 83% of these pre-pandemic levels which has allowed them to review their upcoming forecast.
The group announced on Monday that air traffic in Europe should reach over 11 million flights once more by 2025. They attributed this optimistic outlook to the fact that demand had grown in recent years, reflected by a rise in flight bookings particularly from the south of Europe.
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Furthermore, the EU allowing airlines to install 5G technology on their aircraft, which would see passengers be able to use their smartphones in the skies, may also lead to even higher levels of European air traffic in the coming years.
However, Eurocontrol has called for caution, as it is only predicting a slight annual growth of 1.5% after 2025, with the group explaining that "uncertainties surrounding the economy, possible geopolitical escalations or other unpredictable events may negatively impact this forecast."
