Potential glitches are looming as summer vacation approaches.
TUI Belgium normally operates two flights per week to two Bulgarian airports: Burgas and Varna, both located in the east of the country, on the Black Sea. But the fact that Russia and Ukraine also border the Black Sea seems to have an impact on tourism in Bulgaria.
“Bulgaria is not a risky country, but we have noticed that Belgian travelers are somewhat reluctant to choose an Eastern European destination at the moment,” explains Piet Demeyere of TUI Belgium. Some popular destinations, such as Prague, the Czech capital, are less popular at the moment. “Travellers prefer to take a city trip to Valencia (Spain) or Lisbon (Portugal) rather than to an Eastern European city like Prague. The whole region is suffering a bit from the situation in Ukraine”.
A big challenge
The “sudden” influx of travelers at European airports after the lifting of restrictions due to Covid-19 represents a “challenge”, recognized on Thursday the organization bringing together these facilities which reduced their staff during the crisis.
At a time when the testimonies of airport congestion are multiplying, the European branch of the Airports Council International (ACI Europe) has conceded the existence of “significant constraints” affecting air transport.
“The immediate challenge is to manage the sudden increase in traffic, given that the pandemic has had the effect of enormously reducing the resources of airports and ground handling”, detailed the general manager of ACI Europe. , Olivier Jankovec, quoted in a press release.
“Now it’s about rehiring, in a very tight labor market across Europe,” he added, stressing that “it is impossible to make adjustments overnight given the security accreditation process and time required for training”.
The day before, the main world association of airlines, Iata, had called for “urgently dealing with” the causes of this saturation.
Deploring the “long waits at many airports, due to insufficient resources to manage the growing crowds”, the director general of Iata, Willie Walsh, urged action to “avoid dampening the enthusiasm of consumers for air travel.
The KLM company was thus forced to cancel dozens of flights to and from Amsterdam-Schiphol last weekend, overwhelmed by a large crowd during the spring break.
Unions representing employees or subcontractors of Groupe ADP, manager of Paris airports, have also warned against the risk of congestion, particularly at security checks, while 4,000 positions are to be filled on these platforms and that the companies are struggling to recruit.
Both Iata globally and ACI Europe noted March 2022 activity at its highest since the pandemic began to ravage the airline industry in March 2020, tripling the number of travelers that year. .
Last March, despite the war in Ukraine, airports on the European continent thus welcomed 65.9% of their passengers in the same month of 2019, according to the organization. A clear improvement compared to the 41% of the pre-crisis observed throughout the year 2021.
Ryanair
The CNE and ACV Puls unions have proposed to Ryanair management a timetable for negotiations ending on May 25. They would like the company to give them a CCT project, which will then be discussed during the various meetings proposed.
“We have been asking for a serious dialogue for six months,” said Didier Lebbe, CNE permanent secretary. “We are going to this negotiation in good faith, hoping at last for a positive outcome for the staff. »
If the proposals do not satisfy them or the discussion collapses, the unions do not rule out further strike action in the weeks to come.