"The fifth wave is likely to be very complicated for the airline industry"

• Since the appearance of the Omicron variant, many countries have implemented new restrictions.

• Bad news for the airline industry, which was starting to look up.

• Since the start of the crisis, companies have seemed to limit the damage, said Marc Ivaldi, president of the International Association of Transport Economists.

  But what will be the effects of the “fifth wave”?

After the crisis, it is still the crisis.

Airlines are once again facing restrictions over fears the Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa, will be exported all over the world.

The World Health Organization (WHO) certainly warned on November 30 that travel bans would not prevent the spread of this new variant of Covid-19.

However, around fifty countries, including France, have announced air restrictions.

What consequences can this have on the future of global air transport?

Marc Ivaldi, president of the International Association of Transport Economists and professor at the Toulouse School of Economics, answers questions from

Several unions of transport workers, including air, on Friday warned governments around the world.

They want air links to remain open, so as not to affect "supply chains already in difficulty".

Are they right to sound the alarm bells?

They can see that there is a problem because world traffic was on the move and there are restrictions again.

It was not a good idea to close links with South Africa.

The Omicron variant was already in Europe before it appeared there.

It is clear that decisions were taken too quickly, but we must also understand governments, it is complicated.

To fly from Spain to France, currently, you simply need to be vaccinated and certify on your honor that you have not been in contact with someone who has the virus.

Simply certify on honor ... With this virus, there is no better method than DIY.

And for air transport, this is not good news.

Will airlines be able to disappear because of the crisis and this 5th wave?

Surprisingly, we haven't seen many bankruptcies or major catastrophes.

The big companies, like Lufthansa or Air France, are still there.

However, there were regroupings, or else this crisis had an accelerating effect.

For example, Alitalia went out of business, but the company was already doing very badly before the crisis.

A company like Air France, which was not in a very good situation, began to repay loans granted by the State thanks to the resumption of traffic.

The fact that it falls back will make the situation very complicated.

Air France was able to obtain two additional years, that is to say until 2025, to repay its loan guaranteed by the State (PGE).

This fifth wave therefore falls at the wrong time.

Do you think the company will be able to come out of the crisis in the near future?

I was much more pessimistic six months ago about Air France, but the company has made considerable efforts.

The situation will depend on the impact of this fifth wave.

If it is very strong… The European market remains open and there are no restrictions on the domestic markets.

Faced with these new restrictions on commercial flights, can freight be a solution for airlines?

Last year, they only got income from freight.

For Air France, I believe that this concerned 90% of the revenues, because there were hardly any passengers.

It is for example thanks to the freight that we were able to obtain masks.

That makes a little change for the companies.

The problem is, air freight is a lot more expensive than sea freight, and you can't carry everything by air.

If we don't want prices to increase too much, that's not the solution.

The market will decide, not the airlines.

What does the holiday season mean in general for airlines?

Is this the most important time of their year?

There must be a peak but I don't think that is very significant compared to other comparable holiday periods.

I believe this is much more important for the train.

Economy

Coronavirus: Broken prices, smaller planes, redistributed routes… How will the aviation sector be able to reinvent itself?

Economy

Air transport: French traffic slightly up, prices down

• Coronavirus

• Covid 19

• Interview

• Air France

• Aviation

• Transport

• Economy

• 0 comment

• 0 share

  • Share on Messenger

  • Share on Facebook

  • Share on twitter

  • Share on Flipboard

  • Share on Pinterest

  • Share on Linkedin

  • Send by Mail

• To safeguard

• A fault ?

• To print