Javier Marín, President of the European Airports Council International (ACI EUROPE) and Javier Gándara, President of the Airline Association (ALA), said that despite the obstacles that have hit aviation, first the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine, a margin that bodes well for the future.
First, because the desire to travel is human nature, and then, hoping that the conflict will not last much longer, Marín, who is also General Manager of AENA (Spanish Airports and Air Navigation), and Gándara also agreed, general owner by Easy Jet for Southern Europe.
In the twenty-fourth edition of the “Save Tourism” colloquium organized by the Hotusa Group in the Eurostars Madrid Tower5 skyscraper, the head of ACI Europe admitted that after the crisis with Covid-19 and the slowdown in the industry growth without chimneys, already from the Omicron variant everything seemed to be back to normal.
However, Marín continued, after an 80 percent recovery compared to the same period in 2021, the question of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine came up. In any case, all indications are that we will end March with major indices, he said.
For his part, Gándara acknowledged that the increase in fuel prices creates uncertainty, although airlines are reporting interesting forecasts for Latin America, which has always been a good market but is now even stronger.
The effects of the war initially generated suspicion, and the accelerating pace somewhat died down; Then at this point everything indicates that tourists and travelers in general have started planning for the summer, said the head of ALA and Easy Jet.
In Marín’s view, the preference for Latin American destinations, along with movement on domestic flights, were signs that European citizens are not prepared to remain stagnant as they have been during the pandemic, and Spain in particular, located further south in Europe, is privileged in these senses.
Gándara and Marín reported that the reservation thermometer, with the facilities airlines have put in place for date changes, indicates a 19 percent increase in Spain towards destinations such as Mallorca, the Canary Islands, Malaga and Menorca.
On the other hand, it was about the importance of the aviation industry, which is investing more and more in photovoltaic energy for airports, drastically reducing CO2 emissions and deepening the already existing advances in the use of combined hydrogen or alone for a sustainable future of the industry.
ore/ft