European aviation sector to show clear recovery

The European aviation sector is recovering rapidly, according to statistics from IATA, the International Air Transport Association.

The graph below shows that the number of European flights has increased rapidly since borders have reopened. Despite the strong growth, more than 60 percent fewer European flights are operated compared to the same period in 2019. Nowhere in the world is the increase in international flights as rapid as in Europe. However, this may be explained partly by the large number of countries in Europe, which means that in a normal situation the number of international flights is larger than anywhere else in the world as well.

IATA: “This pick-up in intra-Europe international flights has been supported by passengers travelling to visit friends and family as well as holiday traffic associated with the peak summer period, rather than business travel. This initial recovery has been led primarily by the region’s larger point-to-point airlines, which have been able to quickly deploy capacity in response to the rise in demand as travel restrictions relaxed.”