European airlines’ summer plans favour regional routes

Mykonos, Greece, where some European travellers will be this summer, whatever the state of the pandemic. Picture: 123RF/DIETER HAWLAN

Schedules announced so far reflect a gulf in demand between the faster recovering domestic and regional trade, and long-haul services heavily reliant on business passengers — a market that could remain in the doldrums for years. While there’s no clear view on just how quickly would-be travelers will shrug off coronavirus-related concerns, low-cost carriers are taking a bullish view on people’s willingness to fly.

Carriers face a particular dilemma because the summer season can contribute all of their earnings even in a good year. That’s increased the temptation to build up flights now in a gamble that cooped-up north Europeans are craving time on Mediterranean beaches.

Europe has been hit especially hard because individual countries took unilateral action in closing down borders, quickly wiping out even shorter flights. That contrasts with the US, where the disease arrived later and about a third of domestic services have been maintained.Groundings bottomed out worldwide on April 21 and services have since increased by 30%, according to the International Air Transport Association , though they’re down almost 75% from January levels.

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