BUSINESS NEWS
Flights in Europe expand by quarter in week of May 17
Air traffic in Europe picked up dramatically following the restart of travel to Portugal and Greece as easyJet and Ryanair restored capacity. European air navigation
organisation Eurocontrol reported air traffic increased by more than a quarter to 45% of the 2019 level in the seven days from May 17 when the UK traffic light system came into force. Eamonn Brennan, Eurocontrol
director general, said: “Greece straightaway enjoyed a huge increase in airline capacity [and] there was a major upsurge from the UK to Portugal.” EasyJet flight operations on
May 24 were almost double those
of two weeks previously despite remaining 83% down on 2019. Ryanair increased operations by a smaller amount (14%) to remain 81% down on 2019. Brennan noted: “The return of
Ryanair and easyJet was brought about by travel to Portugal and Greece. We expect to see Spain, Malta and others open up in the next few weeks.” He forecast a resumption of
UK-US flights in June and suggested traffic from elsewhere in Europe to the US would resume from July.
Etihad chief predicts restrictions to go on ‘for foreseeable future’
Covid-19 travel restrictions will continue “for the foreseeable future”, the head of Etihad Airways has warned. Chief executive Tony Douglas
said: “The situation changes almost every day because of travel restrictions easing in some places or becoming more restrictive in others. “There is every chance this will
continue for the foreseeable future.” Speaking on a webinar hosted
by air navigation body Eurocontrol, Douglas declined to criticise the restrictions or the UK government for placing the UAE on its red list. Douglas said: “The travel
restrictions all around the world
have in the main been for a good reason. We’re delighted that in Abu Dhabi, the US, Germany and Spain have been added to our green list [for travel], and the UK was already on our green list. I’m somewhat disappointed there is still a restriction on travel from the UAE to the UK. I just hope that in one of the forthcoming revisions of the green list the UAE will be added.” He argued: “If many countries
maintain the trajectory of their vaccination programmes, it’s reasonable to assume we’ll see green lists increase significantly. Demand will probably see us get back to the 2019 level [of traffic] by 2023-24.”
‘Traffic lights subdued demand’ 42%
Ian Taylor
The UK’s traffic light system for categorising destinations has made more people decide to holiday in Britain than travel abroad this year, according to Mintel. The consumer analyst suggests the
announcement of the system in April contributed to a sharp decline in the proportion of UK adults intending to take an overseas holiday in 2021 while producing a rise in the proportion planning a domestic break. Researchers noted a previous survey
in January found UK travellers “still fairly optimistic about international travel in 2021, with most planning to go abroad for their main holiday” this year. But since then, Mintel noted:
“The much more cautious approach from the government, and a rise in cases in many European destinations, have significantly impacted people’s
travelweekly.co.uk
Proportion of Brits in April intending to take a holiday abroad this year
confidence in international travel, [making] more travellers change their mind on holidaying abroad.” Mintel research suggested 59% of
UK adults took an overseas holiday in the year prior to the pandemic, but in April’s research only 42% intended to take a holiday abroad. Conversely, those planning a UK domestic holiday had risen to 58% in April, when only 41% took a domestic holiday pre-pandemic. Mintel suggested the UK’s
traffic light system “subdued the appeal of international travel, particularly among over-55s”.
The research found many of those
planning a holiday had yet to book and didn’t know when they would. At the time of the survey, in mid-April, only one in five (21%) of those planning to travel overseas had booked. However, Mintel did find a
marked increase in respondents planning a ‘holiday of a lifetime’ once travel can resume, with 17% in April considering such a trip, up from 10% in a survey in November 2018. Marloes de Vries, Mintel associate
director for travel, said: “The traffic light system has made more people change their mind on travelling overseas. The number of bookings for UK domestic holidays has continued to increase, while those still open to travelling overseas are clearly waiting for more detail.” Mintel surveyed 2,000 UK adults
aged 16 and over online in January, and 1,000 in March and April.
3 JUNE 2021 Marloes de Vries 47
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