European airports see cautious passenger recovery with 2023 uncertain

A full recovery in airline passenger volumes in Europe has been pushed back to 2025 from 2024, the body representing European airports said on Tuesday, revising the industry's optimistic tone about its post-COVID recovery. The announcement from ACI Europe heralds a cautious outlook with "more negatives than positives" as Europe fears a looming recession and continues to grapple with double-digit inflation as well as the fallout from the war in Ukraine. Euro zone inflation may have peaked but will subside so slowly that it could be years before it gets back to the European Central Bank's 2% target, reports this month indicated. Analysts had previously said they expected consumers to continue their holiday travels, even as they grapple with higher costs of living. But ACI Europe and others say there were still uncertainties, including a slow recovery of business travel and further unexpected economic upheaval, that could impact the sector. For airports in particular, new government fees could prove troubling. "We now expect the passenger traffic recovery to level off moving forwards, with the timeline pushed to 2025 before Europe's airports finally get back to where they stood before COVID-19 hit," said Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe. "We expect several airport markets - especially those relying predominantly on tourism - to exceed their pre-pandemic passenger volumes as soon as next year. But many others will not fare so well and take much longer to recover."<br/>