Risks of European airport closures if traffic continues to decline

Airports council international (ACI) believes that "193 airports will face insolvency in the coming months if passenger traffic does not resume by the end of the year. These are mainly regional airports." which only provide domestic flights, according to the organization.

More "larger European airports and hubs are not immune to significant financial risk", continues ACI Europe, which represents 500 airports in 46 European countries. "They have cut costs to the bone and are turning to the financial markets to consolidate their results and put in place shields" financial, notes the ACI.

"This sudden increase in debt of an additional 16 billion euros for the 20 main European airports represents almost 60% of their turnover for a normal year", explains the organization.

In September, traffic at European airports was down 73% on average compared to the same period last year and 75% in mid-October, she said.

"The figures released today reflect an extremely grim situation. After eight months of crisis, airports are burning cash to stay open, with revenues far from covering operational costs.", commented Olivier Jankovec, CEO of ACI Europe. He called, to restart traffic, for the massive deployment of Covid-19 tests in airports to avoid quarantine measures on arrival.