Filenews 28 October 2020
Almost 200 airports in the UK and Europe are on the threshold of collapse due to the dramatic reduction in air travel caused by the crown, the European commercial airport service warned on Tuesday (27/10).
The crisis has financially affected 193 of the total 740 commercial airports in Europe and if passenger traffic does not start to recover in the coming months it will create a serious problem, according to the European Commercial Airport Service (ACI Europe) which promotes the collective interests of Europe's airports and promotes professional excellence in airport management and operation.
The trade body says the airports at risk employ 277,000 people and collectively generated annual revenues of €12.4 billion.
Olivier Jankoves, chief executive of ACI Europe, said the figures "show a dramatically ominous picture" of the future of the aviation industry, which has already suffered tens of thousands of jobs.
"Eight months after the crisis, all airports in Europe are burning with cash to stay open, with revenues not covering business costs, let alone capital costs," Jankovec said. "Even local Lockdown by governments drives Europe's airports closer to the brink every day that passes."
An ACI Europe spokesperson said the agency would not name which airports are at risk of collapsing, so as not to cause panic among workers and travellers. However, he noted that most of the airports most at risk are small regional ones, which have seen a sharp decline in passenger numbers.
The number of passengers at Europe's airports in September fell by 75% compared to the same month last year. ACI Europe said the total number of "lost passengers" since the pandemic began amounted to 1.3 billion.
Source: eyenews/protothema.com.au
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