The disruption, delays and cancellation at airports across Europe last summer came from “a race to the bottom” on working conditions and “too much emphasis on competition”.
That is according to the head of the European airports association ACI Europe, who argued “some of the rules need to change” to avoid a repetition.
ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovic told the Airport Operators Association conference in London last week: “We saw [ground] handling companies crying out for staff and airports stepping in to help.
More: One in three travellers report summer flight disruption [August 22]
Agents fear chaotic airport scenes could put ‘handbrake’ on summer bookings [June 22]
Flight delays to continue across Europe ‘all summer and beyond’ [May 22]
“There has been too much emphasis on competition and on a race to the bottom on conditions and this has a cost in relation to resilience.
“Policymakers need to recognise some of the rules need to change.”
Jankovic noted Frankfurt and Amsterdam Schiphol airports suffered the greatest disruption last year and argued: “Schiphol followed a very aggressive externalisation strategy – with goals set by the state to be the cheapest major airport in Europe.”
He said: “There is a lesson there. When you externalise every function you end up with less control and less resilience.”
Luton airport chief executive Alberto Martin agreed, saying: “The handling model is a weakness in the system at the moment. We need to prioritise it to ensure stability.
“The disruption we saw at so many airports [last summer] affected confidence. At Luton we recovered well, but there are challenges ahead.”
‘Boring predictability’ needed
Edinburgh airport chief executive Gordon Dewar said: “We didn’t face the problems some airports did, but we had people turn up for flights seven hours early because they had seen the queues on the media.”
He argued: “We need a year of boring predictability. We have the industrial action by Border Force and there will probably be industrial action at ground-handling companies. We’re not out of the woods.”
ACI Europe reported this week that passenger traffic across Europe’s airport network almost doubled year on year in 2022 but remained 21% below 2019 volumes despite proving too much to cope with at busy periods.
Jankovic said “this is not yet a full recovery” and warned: “Supply pressures are likely to remain significant given the structural capacity reductions made by most airlines, their strong focus on increasing yields through higher air fares, aircraft delivery delays and labour shortages still being an issue.”
ACI Europe reported the UK ended 2022 with annual air passenger numbers down 25% on 2019. German air passenger numbers were down 35%, France 19%, Italy 18% and Spain 11%.
Heathrow was the second-busiest airport in Europe over the year with almost 62 million passengers, 24% down on 2019, but the busiest by the end of the year.
Istanbul was the busiest over the course of the year with 64 million passengers, just 6% down on its pre-pandemic traffic.
Paris-Charles de Gaulle recorded 57.5 million passengers, 24.5% down on 2019, ahead of Amsterdam-Schiphol on 52.5 million and 27% down. Madrid Barajas recorded almost 51 million passengers, 18% down on 2019, and Frankfurt 49 million, 31% down.
More: One in three travellers report summer flight disruption [August 22]
Agents fear chaotic airport scenes could put ‘handbrake’ on summer bookings [June 22]
Flight delays to continue across Europe ‘all summer and beyond’ [May 22]