Commercial Air Traffic in Europe Reporting Slow Recovery

Jerusalem, 8 December, 2020 (TPS) -- Skopje, 8 December 2020 (MIA) – The recovery of commercial air traffic across Europe is slow. After the initial drop of over 90% in April and May this year, there’s been a partial recovery during July and August with a 64% and 53% drop, but then there’s another increased drop in September and October of 59% and 62%, according to Eurostat’s data.

The Skopje airport has reported the same curve in terms of a drop in the number of flights. After a 40% drop in March and a 94% and 93% drop in April and May, there’s a slight recovery in July and August with a 55.9% and 58.7% drop in comparison to the same time last year. The drop goes back to 62.5% and 59.3% in September and October respectively.

In terms of number of flights, it involves a drop of 1,273 takeoffs in March 2019 to 754 in 2020, and then from over 1,500 flights in April, May and June 2019 to under 100 in the same months this year. In August 2019, there were 1,945 flights in comparison to 803 in August 2020. In September 2019, there were 1,764 flights as opposed to 661 in September 2020.

The Ohrid airport has had a 100% drop in April, May and June, only to rise to a 79.2% and 80% drop in September, and fall back down to 93.9% in October as compared to the same time last year.

Being one of the first industries affected by the restrictive measures for combating the COVID-19 pandemic, taken throughout Europe in the beginning of 2020, commercial air traffic registered a sharp drop in the number of commercial flights – travel, cargo, and post, throughout the entire European Union.

Between January and October 2020, a large number of European airports suffered a drastic decline in the number of commercial flights in comparison to the same period last year.

The biggest drop in commercial flights was registered in the Frankfurt/Main airport, 251,900 commercial flights – 58%, then Paris/Charles De Gaulle with a 232,990 flights drop – 55%, Amsterdam/Schiphol – 53%, 227,700 flights, Munich with a 63% drop – 218,300 flights, and Madrid/Barajas with a 60% drop – 212,800 flights.

Other airports throughout the EU have also suffered drastic drops in the number of flights: Barcelona/El Prat: -182,500 flights = 63%, Rome/Fiumicino: -172,400 flights = 65%, Vienna/Schwechat: -138,600 flights = 60%, Copenhagen/Kastrup: -134,900 flights = 61%, and Palma de Majorca -129,200 flights = 66%.

Airports in the countries of the region are also noting a drop in commercial flights’ numbers. In March this year, Albanian and Montenegrin airports have suffered the biggest drops of 51% and 50%, then Serbia with 41.2%, 40% in North Macedonia, 36% in Croatia and 50% in Bulgaria.

After an 83-95% drop in the number of flights in April, May and July in every country of the region, the smallest drop is noted in Albania in August, 40%, then 58.7% in Greece, 59.6% in Serbia, 60.4% in North Macedonia, 61.2% in Croatia, 61.1% in Bulgaria, and 72.1% in Montenegro.

The biggest drops in the number of flights in October are recorded in Croatia and North Macedonia with 70% and 63.2% respectively, followed by Montenegro with 59.1%, 50.2% in Serbia, 47% in Greece, and Bulgaria and Albania with a 43% drop in comparison to the same time last year.

Aleksandar Atanasov

Translated by Dragana Knezhevikj

2020-12-07 22:07:42, from Bisera Altiparmakova