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Nearly 200 airports across Europe ‘risk going bankrupt’

Nearly 200 European airports risk insolvency in the coming months if passenger traffic does not recover, a trade association warned on Tuesday, as nations contemplate further lockdowns to combat a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Published: 28 October 2020 09:43 CET
Nearly 200 airports across Europe 'risk going bankrupt'
AFP

ACI Europe said the 193 airports facing insolvency are mainly regional airports which serve local communities.

But combined they support more than a quarter of a million jobs and 12 billion euros ($15.6 billion) in gross domestic product.

“The threat of airport closure means Europe faces the prospect of the collapse of a significant part of its air transport system — unless governments step up to provide the required support,” said the trade association. 

A number of European nations have moved to provide specific help for airlines in addition to support measures offered to all companies hit by pandemic-related restrictions.

ACI Europe's figures show airport passenger traffic was down 75 percent in mid-October, which means airports — like airlines — have trouble covering operating costs.

The trade body called on European nations to shift to testing air passengers for coronavirus rather than imposing quarantines on travellers.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Copenhagen Airport delays: Air traffic controllers borrowed to ease shortage

Air traffic control company Naviair will loan air traffic control staff from the smaller Roskilde Airport to solve persistent flight delays out of Copenhagen.

Published: 16 May 2023 17:22 CEST
Copenhagen Airport delays: Air traffic controllers borrowed to ease shortage

The loan of staff from Roskilde Airport will be in place throughout the peak summer season, Naviair said in a statement.

The decision has been made to prevent major flight delays affecting passengers at Copenhagen Airport.

Naviair said that the solution will give it enough cover for most of the summer flight traffic without lengthy delays or asking air traffic controllers to work overtime.

Capacity at Roskilde Airport will be reduced during the period.

“The plan is going to have some consequences. The reallocation of air traffic controllers means reduced capacity at Roskilde Airport, whose users we naturally apologise to,” Naviair director of traffic Thorsten Elkjær said in the press statement.

READ ALSO: Airline Norwegian threatens to ‘find alternative’ to Copenhagen Airport over delays

The shortage of air traffic controllers and related dispute between their trade union and Naviair, their employer, has resulted in delays for hundreds of thousands of passengers at Copenhagen Airport in recent weeks.

Naviair has asked its staff to take on extra shifts due to the shortage but has also said it has increased intake on training programmes to eventually increase the number of staff available. 

The air traffic controllers have said that the overtime is not at a manageable level, and that they have taken 1,500 additional shifts so far this year.

Figures from April show that some 45 percent of flights from Copenhagen Airport were delayed last month and the issue has continued into May.

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