The economy today

Are airlines in Europe ready for recovery?

Audio 03:57

Airbus planes of Air France airline at Roissy Charles de Gaulle.

© Reuters/ file

By: Aabla Jounaïdi Follow

4 mins

Long queues that exceed airports, travelers who miss their plane for lack of staff to take care of them on boarding.

The shortage of air workers in the United Kingdom has forced several companies to cut flights in recent days.

The resurgence of Covid cases and the difficulties in recruiting ground agents partly explain the problems of the sector which must however prepare for a very strong resumption of flights this summer.

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Summer has already started for the sector.

And if it starts to seize up in airports, it's because the recovery is already there.

In Europe, the lifting of travel restrictions has caused flight bookings to explode.

Despite the war in Ukraine, the next few months are "promising", confirmed the International Airlines Association (IATA) yesterday, recalling that the supply of available seats has almost returned to its pre-crisis level, in particular on the European continent.

Are carriers ready to absorb this demand?

What worries in the United Kingdom, in this case, is that the companies miss out on the crucial months of July-August because of the lack of staff.

Staff hit by the Omicron sub-variant... and difficult to replace, for lack of candidates.

For the unions in the sector, these companies pay for the waves of layoffs made when the planes were grounded in 2020 and 2021. Difficult to find people, especially when wages and working conditions remain so unattractive, denounce these unions.

EasyJet, the British low-cost airline, will cancel several hundred flights due to staff shortages.

For this first test after the lifting of health restrictions in the United Kingdom, it is missed.

Isn't the war in Ukraine also threatening the recovery of the sector?

What the global airline lobby was saying this week was that when the conflict started, there was a drop in bookings but a strong recovery soon after.

In Europe, but also in Africa where the Association of Airlines also anticipates a market recovery.

However, the impacts of the conflict are feared by the sector.

When we know that fuel represents between 30 and 35% of companies' operating costs, the record rise in the price of a barrel of oil is worrying.

On this aspect, the companies do not play on equal terms.

When Ryan Air, with its solid cash flow, can afford to buy 80% of its fuel in advance at a moderate price, others will have to consider passing on the increase to their prices, even if it means losing competitiveness.

And then there are the restrictions that continue to apply, especially in Asia...

Yes, it is a de facto refocusing on Europe which most airlines have resolved to do.

China, faced with its new outbreak of Covid cases, remains out of reach for European carriers.

Russia, in response to European sanctions, has itself closed its airspace to Western companies.

What further distance Europe and Asia, considered a market of the future for the sector.

►In short

Meta, Facebook's parent company, has not abandoned its virtual currency project

Market regulators had stopped the launch of the project called "Diem" in 2019 altogether in 2019. They feared for the balance of the financial system, for the risks of money laundering and for the protection of users' personal data in particular.

According to the 

, Mark Zuckerberg's group is back with a new project, but this time in the Metaverse;

that is to say in the parallel universe accessible in augmented and virtual reality designed by the founder of Facebook.

of the question

here, but tokens to exchange goods and services in this virtual world.

This already exists in video games and it would allow in particular to reward certain contributors.

A project which has not been denied by the group, but which should a priori less worry the monetary authorities...

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• Transport

• Aeronautics