The flight chaos will not end anytime soon. It will last throughout the autumn season, especially in European countries. The reasons are old because they have not yet been eliminated – a significant lack of labor, as well as strikes, which continue to affect the work of major airlines and airports and the nerves of tourists.
The most critical disruptions were registered in Spain, where the employees of the popular low-cost carrier Ryanair planned to strike every week until the end of the year, or rather, from August 15 to January 7, 2023, the Schengenvisainfo portal reported.
Meanwhile, Portuguese authorities have also urged travelers to avoid travel after they may face flight delays or cancellations. The call comes after civil aviation workers from Portugal’s Civil Aviation Workers Union (SNTAC) and the Commercial Aviation Staff (SQAC), together with the Commercial Aviation Staff Union, announced at the end of this month that they plan to go on strike from August 19 to 21.
In addition, the Portuguese Aviation Union also stressed that it would be prudent not to travel to Portugal on the above dates. “Only by doing this (strike) will we be able to achieve what the company has lacked for a long time: social stability, respect for workers’ rights and, above all, for people,” the publication quoted the union’s message as saying.
The CEO of Ryanair, Ireland’s leading low-cost airline in Europe, Michael O’Leary recently announced that there will be no more €10 tickets, indicating that the era of super-cheap travel is over (details here).
“We believe that 40 euros (about 1,600 hryvnias) should rise to, perhaps, 50 euros (about 2,000 hryvnias) within the next five years,” he said then, referring to fuel prices.
According to statistics, airlines in different countries of the world suspended more than 25,000 of their flights scheduled for August, and about 60 percent of them were to European countries. The increase in flight cancellations is due to staff shortages and other problems with airports in Europe.
Based on the latest data provided by the rating agency, Europe is the most affected area. So far, 15,788 flights scheduled for August 2022 have been canceled in the region. So, earlier the British airline company British Airways announced the cancellation of 3,600 flights, the British low-cost airline EasyJet — about 2,045 flights, the German Lufthansa — about more than 2,000 flights, and the Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air — about 1,256 flights.
The authorities of European countries have previously introduced strict entry rules and other restrictions to curb the further spread of the coronavirus and its new varieties. However, such preventive measures have deeply affected many areas, causing significant financial losses, especially in the travel and tourism sector.