6.1 million airline flights canceled in Europe
A report issued by the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation yesterday expected a slow recovery for air traffic in Europe this year after the emerging coronavirus pandemic.
The organization said it expects the number of flights and passengers to be only about 51% of its pre-pandemic level, after canceling about 6.1 million flights and losing 1.7 billion passengers last year.
The organization added that while airlines were among the main beneficiaries of the support provided by governments to confront the repercussions of the emerging corona virus pandemic, during the past year, it is expected that airports will rely heavily on government support during the current year.
“We are confident that a recovery will take shape in 2021 with the use of vaccines around the world,” said Emo Bernan, WHO Director-General. However, it is clear that the aviation sector as a whole will still need financial support in the coming years. ”
According to the analysis, the German airline giant Lufthansa Group was forced to cancel 67% of its flights over the past year, while EasyJet and IAG, which operates British Airways and Iberia, canceled 65% of its flights.
Low-cost Ryanair Airlines canceled 59% of its flights and Air France-KLM canceled 55% of its flights.
At the same time, the German Frankfurt Airport lost the first place as the largest European airport in terms of the number of flights last year in favor of Amsterdam Airport.
By the end of last year, about 51 percent of European airline fleets were out of service, with 4,118 aircraft out of a total of 8,048 corporate aircraft
