Heathrow Airport Records Busiest Month Since Start of Pandemic
Heathrow Airport has recorded its busiest month since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The west London airport said it was used by 4.2 million passengers in March.
This represents nearly an eight-fold increase in the total during the same month in 2021.
A spike in coronavirus-related staff absences, combined with difficulties finding and passing security checks for new recruits, means the aviation sector has struggled to cope with the number of people flying in recent weeks.
Heathrow admitted “resources are stretched” but described how it is “working closely with airlines and ground handlers to make sure this increase in demand can be met while keeping passengers safe”.
Chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “It is fantastic to see the airport coming back to life after two years, and I want to thank all team Heathrow colleagues for working together to serve our passengers.
“Everyone at Heathrow is doing everything we can to make sure passengers get on their way as smoothly and safely as possible.”
Congestion
The rise in passengers was attributed to the UK government’s removal of all coronavirus travel restrictions.
Demand was driven by outbound leisure travel at weekends and during school holidays.
There is “congestion in check-in areas at peak times” as “half of the global markets” still require passengers to pass coronavirus checks such as testing and vaccination status, according to Heathrow.
Departing passengers are advised to check with their airline to confirm when they should arrive at the airport.
Heathrow added that “other airport processes are currently working to plan” and it is working with Border Force to “ensure sufficient levels of resources are in place to cope with the large number of passengers returning to the UK over the next couple of weeks”.
Meanwhile, new figures show Heathrow slipped from the second-busiest airport for international travel before the pandemic to number seven in 2021.
Airports Council International said Heathrow was used by 17.6 million international passengers last year, down 77 percent from the total for 2019.
Dubai maintained its spot at the top of the ranking.
The five airports to overtake Heathrow in 2021 were Istanbul, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle, and Doha.
FG To Reserve Lagos, Abuja Int’l Airports For New National Carrier
There are strong indications that the Federal Government may have reserved the entire old terminals at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, for the planned national carrier, Nigeria Air.
A source close to the Ministry of Aviation confided in Daily Independent on Thursday that the airline would operate its entire local operations from the international wings of the two terminals.
But the decision by the government to reserve the two terminals for the national carrier is already creating ripples in the industry as stakeholders, especially airline operators alleged that the government was already creating a dichotomy between the existing indigenous carriers and the planned national airline.
They recalled that the government in 2004 and 2006 also gave the former flag carrier, Virgin Nigeria and Arik Air same international wings to operate their domestic operations at the expense of other domestic airlines and warned the government to desist from the plan.
Though the national carrier is yet to commence operations, there are feelers that the airline may commence operations in July.
A document signed by the 10 indigenous scheduled airlines under the auspices of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and obtained by Daily Independent indicated that the carriers were against the reservation of the two international terminals for the airline.
AON in the document alleged that there was no level playing field for the operators with the planned dedication of the two terminals solely for Nigeria Air. Read more
Global, African Airlines Record Major Operation Recovery
As more countries lift the restrictions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, air travel is receiving a boost.
The global capacity figures for scheduled seats by airlines have hit 91.5 million weekly, data from the worldwide industry data bank has shown.
Collated by ch-aviation, the global database for airlines, airports, and the air transport value chain, it stated that scheduled seats by global carriers increased by 46 percent as of the end of March, this year, compared to the same week last year.
The data indicate that the figures for scheduled seats went up by 85 percent compared with figures for 2020.
According to the data, Africa’s capacity has been increasing, with 2.7 million weekly scheduled seats.
It stated that Africa recorded a 62 percent increase in figures and a significant spike netting over 125 percent figures compared with March 2020.
The ch-aviation report reads “Asia saw a considerable rise in demand at the end of March, with 35.4 million weekly scheduled seats.
This is the continent’s highest peak since the COVID-19 outbreak, representing a 14 percent increase over March 2021 and a 67 percent increase compared to the same week in 2020.
Following a significant drop in mid-January, Europe‘s capacity figures grew in February and March, totaling 21.6 million scheduled seats by the end of last month. This represents a 167 percent growth over the end of March, last year and a massive 317 percent increase over March 2020. Read more
Easter: Operators Woo Passengers As Domestic Airlines Record Low Booking
April 11 – There are indications that airlines have recorded a drop in passengers following the recent increment in the price of flight tickets, with a one-way economy selling for N50, 000 and above.
Although the recovery in air travel is gathering steam as the Federal Government lifted travel restrictions, local airline operators may not find it easy in the passengers market this season due to low patronage.
A source at the domestic wing of Murtala Muhammad Airport (MMA) told THEWILL that passengers traffic is very low because most travelers are not turning up to book or to travel as usual.
The ticketing officer said passengers’ figures had dropped for some time, saying that, if it were in those days, most airlines’ seats should have been fully booked ahead of Easter celebrations. He said that so far, and even when Easter is just a week away, the airlines are still recording low patronage.
This is in addition to the upcoming 2022 Eid al-Fitr to be celebrated and observed from 2nd May till 3rd May 2022.
An official of one of the domestic airlines who spoke on the low patronage said, “although Easter is here passengers coming to the airport have somehow dropped. I cannot really say the actual cause but it looks as if people are probably now traveling by road. Or could it be because of the insecurity? I cannot really say. However, we hope it will improve in the coming days”.
According to the airline worker, those traveling for Easter will likely pay more because of the cost of fuel, forex, and cost of operations which have increased in recent times.
“Even now ticket fares have started going up. If you are lucky, you can get a one-way ticket for N50, 000. Sometimes, it is N60, 000 and even N80, 000 in some cases. I am very sure, it will be more than that during the Easter period”, he said.
Already, airlines have started to devise means of surviving, particularly during the Easter period. For instance, Arik Air has introduced a sales promotion that will enable its frequent flyer program, Affinity Wings, members to purchase miles for traveling across the airline’s domestic network.
Similarly, Aero Contractors had come up with its own promo “Four For Five” to encourage families to travel this Easter season. Read more