Air traffic across Europe is slowly recovering to levels seen in 2019 — the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic caused drastic reductions in traffic worldwide — and most likely will match 2019 levels in 2025, according to a Eurocontrol forecast.
The forecast, issued in mid-October, describes three scenarios, the most likely one based on a weak gross domestic product (GDP), inflation that results in lower demand, and “lower passenger confidence/propensity to fly.” Under that scenario, recovery would occur in 2025.
The most optimistic prediction, based on a scenario including moderate growth in GDP, limited impact on demand from inflation, high passenger confidence and limited constraints on capacity at airports and airlines, would enable recovery to 2019 levels in 2023.
The most pessimistic scenario, for recovery after 2028, would result if a number of countries have entered an economic recession; if inflation, COVID-19 and other factors strongly di…
