European air traffic below pre-pandemic levels: is a rebound beyond 2019 record possible?
In 2023, European flight activity attained 92% of the volume recorded four years earlier.
This edition of The Mobility Week in Review explores the 2023 air traffic trends in Europe, electric vehicle sales across the Old Continent, what it's like to travel on a night train, the latest developments in Dutch bicycle parking facilities, and the expansion of BlaBlaCar beyond France.
Let's dive right in without any further ado...
🛬 Is this a residual effect of Covid-19 or are there other 'viruses' affecting air travel?
In the period of the Covid-19 pandemic's most severe impact on the transportation sector, numerous studies suggested that a 'new normal' would emerge post-pandemic. With the rise of remote working, it was forecasted that a substantial amount of travel, particularly business-related, might cease to exist. The reasoning was straightforward: if businesses could function for months without employee travel, what would be the necessity to reinstate it in the future? Recent Eurocontrol statistics for the fiscal year 2023 seem to partially validate those predictions.