‘It is clear that the pathway to recovery is going to be long and arduous’ – David Curmi

Quoting recent data by the Centre for Aviation (CAPA) about the effects of travel restrictions on the world’s largest international airports, David Curmi, Executive Chairman at Air Malta has voiced his concern over the fall in weekly departures from European airports as a result of travel restrictions brought about by COVID-19.

Describing European airports as “the biggest losers”, he writes in a social media post that “the unthinkable has happened with London, Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, Madrid and Rome all falling out of the World’s Top 50 airports.”

His sentiment is echoed in a recent CAPA statement detailing the findings of a report on airport traffic growth published in April 2021, which maintains that “Europe continues to be the continent that is suffering the most, since the virus is on the increase again as fast as the countermeasures brought in again to try to thwart it.”

Lamenting on the fact that, for the first time, “there is not a single European airport in the World’s top 50 airports measured by weekly departing frequencies”, Mr Curmi goes on to detail significant drops in rankings among Europe’s main airports.

“Frankfurt dropped from eight place in 2019 to 54 in 2021, London’s Heathrow from 10 to 123, Amsterdam from 11 to 60, Paris CDG from 13 to 70, Munich from 24 to 161, Madrid from 28 to 81, Barcelona from 46 to 160 and Rome from 49 to 140,” he affirms.

With these figures in mind and recovery efforts continuing to be slow, the Executive Chairman notes, “it is clear that the pathway to recovery is going to be long and arduous.”