The briefing on airports
The news, views and numbers you need to know this month
News in numbers
44
Data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) last month showed that there have been 44 cases of Covid-19 transmission this year that are thought to be linked to a flight, during a period when 1.2 billion passenger journeys have been made
€4bn
Germany’s Berlin Brandenburg Airport finally opened in October, after a ten-year delay and having gone €4bn over budget, according to various sources
900 jobs
Manchester Airport Group said it was planning to cut up to 900 jobs in early October as a result of falling passenger numbers
193
According to a new report from Airports Council International Europe, 193 European airports could be bankrupt in a few months due to the financial crisis caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions
84%
Passenger numbers between July and September were down by more than 84% at the UK’s London Heathrow Airport compared with the same period in 2019, according to a Sky News report
In quotes
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) council president Salvatore Sciacchitan, addressing aviation and political officials on upcoming amendments to the ICAO Council’s ‘Take-off’ pandemic response guidelines:
The collective, coordinated, and committed efforts of States and the industry to mitigate pandemic risks through a combination of measures will be the key to the restart and recovery of aviation and strengthen public confidence in air travel.
International Air Transport Association (IATA) director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac, after IATA presented new evidence that airlines will not be able to cut costs sufficiently to avoid bankruptcies and preserve jobs in 2021:
The fourth quarter of 2020 will be extremely difficult and there is little indication the first half of 2021 will be significantly better, so long as borders remain closed and/or arrival quarantines remain in place. Without additional government financial relief, the median airline has just 8.5 months of cash remaining at current burn rates. And we can’t cut costs fast enough to catch up with shrunken revenues.
The month on Twitter
