According to some Eurocontrol estimates, the return to the pre-pandemic number of flights, recorded in 2019, will not take place earlier than 2025. And in the case of connections between Europe and Russia, the situation is much more delicate, as the flight network has to wait until 2029.
Such a forecast was announced by the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol). European officials also noted that recovering the operational network between Russia and Europe will be "long and arduous."
Political tensions and sanctions against Russia have led not only to mutual bans on the use of Russian and European airspace, but also to rising energy prices and rising inflation. Thus, since the beginning of the year, fuel prices have increased by almost 50%, and plane ticket prices have increased by an average of 15% and will continue to increase. In addition, European airports have faced flight chaos due to an acute shortage of available staff during the pandemic. All this does not contribute to the speed of recovery of the industry.
At the same time, Eurocontrol experts say that the ban on flights from Europe to Russia could last until 2029. At least, it will not return to normal routes over Russian and Ukrainian airspace until the end of 2028. At the moment, the restrictions apply and in Belarus and Moldova. In addition, the measures taken led to a reduction in flights over the Baltic region, the Scandinavian countries and Poland.