Eurocontrol report says that in the week of September 6-12, four of the top 10 airlines flew well above their 2019 flight levels
Eurocontrol’s European Aviation Overview says that the airlines in the network recorded 32,514 average daily flights, up by 7 pc against 2022 and standing at 94 pc of 2019 levels. For the first 12 days of September, the number of flights in the network was 93 pc of 2019 levels.
Eurocontrol report says that in the week of September 6-12, four of the top 10 airlines flew well above their 2019 flight levels. These were low cost carrier Wizz Air Group, that had as many as 30 pc more flights in 2023 than in 2019, while another low-cost airline Ryanair Group had 26 pc more flights, followed by the British Airways that had 14 pc and Turkish Airlines 11 pc more flights this year than in the same week before the pandemic.
The statement says Europe’s largest airline, Ireland-based Ryanair was the top operator with the most number of flights at 3,271 for the said period.
It says that operating on over 600 routes with its primary hub at London Gatwick Airport, UK-based Easyjet operated 1,775 flights, a decline of 7 pc compared to 2019 levels. Third highest is the flag carrier of Turkiye, the Turkish Airlines with 1,615 flights.
Eurocontrol report says that though the German flag carrier Lufthansa was fourth in terms of flights operated, with 1,287 flights, it was still a sizeable 21 pc below the pre-pandemic levels. Lufthansa operates an extensive network of regional services within Germany and Europe via primary hubs at Frankfurt and Munich airports. Rounding off the top five is French national carrier Air France with 1,075 flights, reflecting a decline of 16 pc from 2019 levels.
The report adds that Hungarian Wizz Air’s 896 average daily flights takes up the sixth position, while Dutch airline KLM with 884 and British Airways with 848 acquire seventh and eighth spots respectively.
At the ninth spot is Swedish carrier SAS Group and 10th is Spanish low-cost Vueling Airline with 720 and 682 flights respectively.
The statement adds that the top 10 airlines posted a slight decrease in the number of flights at 0.9 pc, compared to the previous week.
Eurocontrol suggests that compared to 2022, the mainline segment has recorded growth by 20 pc, regional 3 pc and low-cost carriers by 5 pc. Business aviation saw a downturn of 9 pc and all-cargo at 6 pc are now recording fewer flights in 2023 compared to 2022 levels. The all-cargo market share has now stabilised and is levelling off with no more rebound effect from 2022 events such as Omicron or the start of the Ukraine-Russian war. Business aviation, at 7.3 pc of total flights, is also levelling off, with commercial airline activity now almost closing the gap between 2023 and 2019.
The report adds that charter segment, which accounted for 4.3 pc of all flights for the period September 1-12, recorded 1 pc more flights during the week of September 6-12.
