Europe’s air traffic rose almost 500% from April 2021 to 2022
The prospects of a sustained recovery in commercial aviation are growing ever stronger, following the publication of traffic data for April 2022 by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Among the most striking statistics is the fact that, in Europe, traffic in April was nearly 50% higher than at the same time last year.
A significant increase
In recent months, the gradual relaxation of travel restrictions in various European countries has made traveling within the continent far easier than a little longer ago. This has resulted in a significant surge in international demand, with pent-up passengers ready to fly abroad once again, rather than holidaying domestically.
As a result of this, international traffic in the region has skyrocketed year on year. In March this year, this was 434.3% higher than the same month in 2021. However, for April, the most recent data shows that this year-on-year rise was even larger, at a staggering 480%. IATA Director General Willie Walsh stated that:
“With the lifting of many border restrictions, we are seeing the long-expected surge in bookings as people seek to make up for two years of lost travel opportunities. April data is cause for optimism in almost all markets.”
Capacity levels have also increased in the region
To facilitate this extra traffic, airlines have correspondingly also had to boost their capacity in Europe. For April 2022, this resulted in a 233.5% year-on-year increase compared to the same time 12 months ago, when things weren’t as strong.
Adding extra capacity costs airlines money, but this has been offset by the increase in passengers using their services. This is the case not just in terms of raw figures, but also when it comes to load factor. Indeed, this metric jumped from 45.7% to 79.4% between April 2021 and April 2022. The only exception to the growth is China, where restrictions remain tight. Regarding this, Walsh stated that:
“The experience of the rest of the world is demonstrating that increased travel is manageable with high levels of population immunity and the normal systems for disease surveillance. We hope that China can recognize this success soon and take its own steps towards normality.”
European load factors in April 2022 were almost 75% higher than they had been a year beforehand. Photo: Getty Images
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Not an incident-free recovery
The fact that international travel has experienced such a boom in Europe is great news for both airlines and their passengers, who subsequently have more flights to choose from due to the corresponding capacity increase. However, the uptick in demand has also caused its fair share of problems at certain European airports.
Indeed, with many facilities having laid off staff during the quieter months of the pandemic, some have now found themselves struggling to cope with the higher passenger volumes.
This has resulted in lengthy queues at the likes of Stockholm Arlanda and Manchester Airport. Meanwhile, recent disruption at London Gatwick forced a Florence-bound Vueling Airlines flight to depart completely empty.
