It’s turning out to be a buyer’s market in airfare in Europe just now, with far fewer travelers than usual going anywhere, and even fewer choosing to fly. One result is airlines dropping fares in hopes of wooing travelers back.
Reginald Otten, Easyjet’s head for France, told AFP last week that “You have to entice travellers to return to flying and price is a factor.” Some routes have not re-opened yet, and others are flying fewer planes, he said. “But we are nevertheless around 30 percent of capacity, which is a very, very low figure, and the summer is the most important, most popular (time) for people to travel.”
Other airlines have reported similar levels, and the industry is worried Eurocontrol, the agency responsible for coordinating air traffic in Europe, has revised its estimate of a 30% drop in traffic for this year compared to 2019 to a 54% drop. The industry has especially been hard hit in recent weeks by a constant shifting of rules as to which countries are open and which are not.
That’s made it harder for airlines to follow one of their main strategies at a time like this, which is to focus on the traditionally most profitable routes. With the constant changes, that has become a near impossibility.
