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July, 20104 Lessons from the volcanic ash crisis
Since 2008, it seems to me that writing for this editorial on anything but the state of near-constant crisis in which the aviation industry has lived would put me off message. But as I was already looking ahead to the summer, I thought Europe’s airports would be back to some form of operational and commercial ‘normality’. Alas, this proved to be nothing more than wishful thinking. After the global crisis and a renewed terrorist threat, a volcanic eruption was just around the corner.
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March, 2010Connecting Aviation Policy with Market Reality
Europe’s airports certainly did not need yet another terrorist threat in the final days of 2009 to conclude their most challenging year on record. With nearly 3 years of growth lost for passenger traffic – the equivalent of close to 100 million passengers gone – and 4 years of growth lost for freight, the past year already deserved to be called an annus horribilis.
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December, 2009Renewed call for competitive crisis relief
Fresh data for the third quarter of 2009 released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, have confirmed expectations. With eurozone countries reporting a +0.4% growth compared with the previous three months, European recession is officially over. Although this is certainly good news for aviation, it cannot be taken for more than what it is: brighter light at the end of the tunnel.
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October, 2009Cautiously looking ahead to better prospects
A year has passed since air traffic started its unprecedented decline in the wake of Lehman Brothers bank going bust. It has certainly not been a cheerful summer for European airports. Systemic capacity cuts by airlines combined with the bankruptcy of MyAir and SkyEurope have translated into traffic losses for the vast majority of airports. Only a happy few have experienced traffic gains, exclusively driven by low cost carriers. But even then, this has often been at the expense of other airports, with aircraft moving from depressed markets to others looking more promising.
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March, 2009Small and regional is beautiful (and very challenging)
The extraordinarily pessimistic times currently befalling the global economy have seen many comparing the current situation with the infamous great depression of the 1930s. For aviation and airports in particular, the analogy fails to deliver any direct relevance.
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January, 2009Dealing with today while planning for tomorrow
As 2008 draws to a close, the forthcoming year is looking pretty bleak for airlines and airports alike. As European countries have been injecting billions of euros in their faltering banking systems in the hope of calming down financial markets and preventing the collapse of their economies, an increasing number of European airports have reported falling passenger and freight traffic figures over the last months. Although uncertainty is the order of the day and making accurate traffic forecasts is like reading a crystal ball, the magnitude of this economic crisis means that the downward trend will further accelerate in the coming months. Let’s face it, 2009 is set to be some sort annus horribilis for aviation.
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October, 2008Defining times for European aviation
This is it. Once again, aviation has entered a period of heavy turbulence. It all started with an unprecedented rise in oil prices and just as the pressure eased, there came what many portray as the worst financial crisis since the great depression of the 1930’s.
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June, 2008How Green is my Airport?
As always, June is an important month for ACI EUROPE, with European airports, their business and industry partners, policy makers and regulators gathering together for our Annual General Assembly, Congress and Exhibition, which this time around takes place in Paris. This year’s Congress is about addressing the many challenges faced by the 21st century airport, and it is no surprise that the environment and in particular, climate change will be one of the key issues for discussion.
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May, 2008EC Finally making an approach on Airport Capacity?
The never-ending escalation of fuel costs and the consequences of the global credit crunch have already taken their toll on aviation. Although Europe appears to be in a better position compared to the US, the near future definitely looks grimmer. The decision of Ryanair to ground 20 of its aircraft for this year’s winter season is quite revealing, not least because it will directly impact upon several European airports and their communities.
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February, 2008Putting customers first
As competition has become the rule of the game for airports across Europe, the need to attract and retain customers is now key to airport operations.
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