Ryanair and Norwegian reported falls of over 80 per cent in turnover in 2020
It goes without saying that the last 18 months have been a period of unprecedented decline for airlines throughout the world, but a report into the state of the global air travel industry published this week by IdeaWorksCompany concludes that among the ten airlines worst affected are three in Europe, two of them operating numerous flights to and from Spanish airports.
Among European Airlines reporting the sharpest falls in turnover during 2020 the biggest name is without a doubt Ryanair. Revenue last year was 1,575 million euros, representing a decrease of 80.8 per cent from the 8,211 million euros stated in the annual accounts of the year before, and although this summer has seen the resumption of many routes the figure for 2021 will certainly not return to the level of two years ago.
Also in the worldwide “top ten” of lost revenue are Norwegian, with an 81.2 fall in turnover which has led to the need for a forced redundancy scheme in Spain, and Aer Lingus (-78 per cent), the Irish-based airline which forms part of the same group as Iberia, Vueling, British Airways and Level.
Among Spanish airlines Vueling and Air Europa lost between 75 and 77 per cent of their turnover, while Iberia withstood the pandemic rather better despite reporting a downturn of 60.2 per cent.
However, the airline worst affected by the pandemic was SilkAir, a regional company in Singapore which was unable to withstand the loss of 96 per cent of its turnover last year and has since merged with Singapore Airlines.
Although the summer of 2021 has brought a certain degree of recovery to the air travel industry, especially in Spain, the future remains problematic for airlines. During August it is reported by Eurocontrol that there have been more flights at Spanish airports than in any other country in Europe – approximately 3,800 per day – and that on July 30 the level of air traffic rose to almost 75 per cent of the equivalent in 2019. However, it is also observable that August has been less encouraging than July, again according to the data produced by Eurocontrol.
Image: Ryanair
Source: Murcia Today
