Europe's challenges in post-COVID air travel. Can Europe stay in the game? - How We Got Here - TVP World

Overcrowded airports, holiday delays, air controller strikes, misplaced baggage... that’s modern air travel for most of us. What can we expect in the future, more of the same?

Despite everything, the airliner still gets us to wherever we want to go.

While Santa Claus is coming to town for free, and carbon-free, this cannot be said of millions of average Christmas enjoyers. In Europe, it has something to do with environmental protections.

Under the European Union's Green Deal and its stringent environmental targets, airliners are required to increase the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

Add the propellant’s limited production and the reasons why the EU’s mandate results in higher operational costs becomes clear.

But growing plane ticket prices are only one of the inconveniences in the post-COVID reality of air travel. The European air traffic control system is plagued with challenges. Traffic after COVID recovered faster than predicted, which in turn led to understaffing in control towers. The lack of controllers was further aggravated by an aging workforce coupled with the new generation still earning its stripes.

Regardless, according to the Airports Council International’s Annual World Airport Traffic Report, total passenger count in 2024 will reach approximately 9.5 billion, representing 104% of the 2019 level. This means 2024 may be the first year to see air traffic return to its pre-pandemic levels. To meet this rising demand, more planes are needed.

Competitors from other regions are unlikely to introduce limiting regulations similar to those imposed by the EU. European airliners may end up suffocated by the regulations and outstripped by its non-EU competition.

But despite all of these issues, things are looking surprisingly good for both the carriers and the carried. As people are driving home for Christmas, or flying, rather, the IATA forecasts the airline industry’s revenues to amount to a little over a trillion dollars next year.

Join Jan Darasz and his guest: Paweł Stężycki, Director at the Łukasiewicz Institute of Aviation for “How We Got Here”