The epidemic hits nearly 200 European airports in the aviation industry or goes bankrupt in a few months

　　China News Service, October 28. According to the British "Guardian" report, a trade association in the European airport industry warned on the 27th that due to the new crown virus pandemic, air travel has drastically reduced. Nearly 200 airports in the UK and Europe will be Within this month, will face the risk of bankruptcy.

Data map: Frankfurt Airport, Germany.

　　The European Airport Council (ACI Europe), which represents airport operators, stated that according to its estimates, if passenger traffic cannot begin to recover before the end of 2020, 193 of the 740 commercial airports in Europe will face bankruptcy in the “next months” ".

　　The association stated that these at-risk airports employ 277,000 employees and generate a total of 12.4 billion euros (11.2 billion pounds) in revenue each year.

　　Olivier Jankovec, Director-General of the European Airports Council, said: “Eight months after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, all airports in Europe have been'burning money' to maintain operations, and their revenues are far from covering operating costs, let alone. The cost of capital."

　　Janovets said: "During the second wave of the epidemic, ensuring the safety of air travel remains our top priority. We must minimize the risk of importing and spreading the virus. By testing passengers instead of quarantining, we can Better reduce risk."

　　A spokeswoman for the European Airports Council said that they will not disclose which airports are at risk, so as not to cause panic among employees and passengers.

However, she said that most of the airports at risk are small regional airports, with the largest decline in passenger numbers.

　　Compared with the same period in 2019, the number of passengers at European airports fell by 75% in September.

The European Airports Council stated that since the outbreak, the total number of passengers lost has reached 1.3 billion.

　　The association reminded that although small airports face the greatest risks, "large European airports cannot be spared from major financial risks."

"They have cut costs and turned to financial markets to support their balance sheets and establish emergency funds. This sudden increase in debt is equivalent to nearly 60% of their normal annual income. In addition, the airport has to lay off thousands of people. For highly skilled personnel, their future development is clearly endangered."