BUSINESS NEWS
Europe passenger numbers up 7% in January on 2023
Air passenger numbers in Europe returned to within 3% of pre- pandemic volumes in January, with airports association ACI Europe reporting a 7% rise on January 2023. However, passenger traffic at
Heathrow surpassed the 2019 level by 1.3%, up more than 9% year on year, while at the airport’s biggest
Heathrow
rivals traffic remained 10% down on 2019 at Paris Charles de Gaulle, 9% down at Amsterdam Schiphol and 13% down at Frankfurt.
International traffic rose 8% year
on year across Europe in January, but domestic traffic rose more slowly and remains substantially down on 2019, with domestic air travel in Germany 51% down on pre-pandemic levels in January, France 30% down, the UK 22% down and Sweden 42% down. Reduced business travel appears
a significant factor in this. The Lufthansa Group noted “business travel continues to recover at a slower pace” as it reported a net profit of €1.67 billion for 2023 last week. The group plans to operate 94% of its 2019 capacity this year.
Domestic sector disputes Budget axe of tax relief
Ian Taylor
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed abolition of the furnished holiday lets scheme that grants tax relief to second homeowners renting out properties to holidaymakers in last week’s Budget. The tax regime will be abolished
from April 6, 2025 in a measure sought by MPs and local authority leaders in popular tourist areas. In his Commons speech, Hunt
said he had “looked closely” at the furnished holiday lettings tax regime following “tenacious representation” from the MPs for St Austell and Newquay, North Devon, Torbay, Truro and Falmouth, and Westminster. He said: “I’m concerned this
tax regime is creating a distortion meaning there are not enough properties available for long-term rental by local people.” However, the impact of abolishing
the relief was disputed by Sykes Holiday Cottages’ head of regulation
travelweekly.co.uk Jeremy Hunt
and policy Ben Edgar-Spier, who claimed: “Holiday let owners have been unfairly scapegoated.” He argued: “Short-term rentals
are the economic lifeblood of many parts of the UK. It’s illogical to target these short-term let businesses over those with empty second homes which contribute nothing to local economies.” Edgar-Spier suggested: “There are
potentially hundreds of factors at play when it comes to housing and rental prices, with nearly 1.4 million empty
homes in England – 16 times the number of holiday lets.” He said: “Putting pressure on
holiday let owners will not solve the housing crisis but risks impacting businesses that support tourism spend and employment.” The Office for National Statistics
(ONS) published data on short- term lets in the UK through Airbnb,
Booking.com and Expedia last week. It revealed there were 2.8 million
stays booked through these platforms for July to September last year, amounting to 28.9 million nights. UK domestic visitors accounted for almost 64% of the total or 18.4 million nights and international visitors 10.5 million. Cornwall was the busiest local
administration with 1.6 million guest nights, ahead of Edinburgh on 1.16 million and Westminster (872,000). Edinburgh, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea were most popular for lets by international visitors, and Cornwall, Gwynedd and Edinburgh most popular for domestic.
Southend airport ownership to pass to US group Carlyle
Ownership of Southend airport is to change hands with major US private equity group Carlyle taking control from the former Stobart Group, now branded Esken, in a deal to settle a row over a pandemic-era loan. The agreement will see a
£194 million loan by Carlyle to the airport converted into an 82.5% stake in the business. Esken will retain the remaining
17.5% shareholding for now but wind down its business. Hedge fund Cyrus Capital will then pick up the 17.5% stake in lieu of repayment of an outstanding loan to Esken. Cyrus Capital was part of the
Connect Airways consortium with Stobart Group and Virgin Atlantic which rescued and ran Flybe in 2019 until its collapse in early 2020, then resurrected Flybe again in 2022 before putting it into administration in January last year. Southend airport chief executive
John Upton hailed the deal, saying it “delivers certainty and stability”. Carlyle and Esken had been
increasingly at loggerheads, with Carlyle filing a High Court claim against Esken last September claiming it had breached the terms of a £125 million loan in 2021. Interest on the loan increased the sum owed to £193.8 million. However, Southend has
struggled to recover from the pandemic, handling 146,000 passengers last year compared with more than two million in 2019.
An easyJet aircraft at Southend airport
14 MARCH 2024 47
PICTURE: Shutterstock/Sean Aidan Calderbank
PICTURE: Shutterstock/Colinmthompson
PICTURE: Shutterstock/Markus Mainka
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