Lufthansa Group carrier Swiss is set to announce a further reduction in the size of its business and an increased focus on leisure markets, according to the airline’s chief executive, Dieter Vranckx.
Ryanair would look to reintroduce domestic routes in the UK if the country’s government cuts taxes on short-haul flights, delegates at Routes Reconnected have been told.
“We will certainly look with interest if the [Civil Aviation Authority] or the government do something with APD,” said Eddie Wilson, the CEO of Ryanair DAC, the largest airline in the Ryanair Group.
“I think there is huge potential for more connectivity within the UK, and for people to get around. That s certainly something that we would respond to and we ve heard some rumours that they re going to cut the tax in half.”
Airports and airlines will need to be “very creative in finding new solutions” to cope with the post-COVID aviation market, a panel at Routes Reconnected has heard.
Speaking at a session focusing on returning to the skies with confidence, Berlin Airport COO Patrick Muller discussed how new digital, social distancing measures and a lack of uniformity between nations will pose significant challenges.
The most important aspect will be to “provide trust and confidence back to the travelers, said Muller.
“Processing times are being extended and space requirements have been increased by social distancing,” said Muller. “You have 100 passengers, queuing with a distance of 1.5 meters; that makes a cue of 150 meters.
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Amid the challenges of COVID-19, many airlines worldwide have been forced to restructure their fleet. These right-sizing measures should help carriers to adapt to new and unpredictable demand levels. For Austrian Airlines, this has meant streamlining its fleet to dispose of smaller aircraft, which its CEO no longer considers economically viable.
Moving forward, Austrian’s smallest aircraft will be the Embraer 195. Photo: Florian Klebl via Flickr
Moving away from regional aircraft
Before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Austrian had a diverse fleet of around 80 planes. This included a core short-haul fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft. Meanwhile, Boeing’s 767 and 777 families were doing the honors in terms of its long-haul network.
By Lewis Harper2021-04-27T12:25:00+01:00
People staying within the UK and Ireland for holidays is unlikely to be a threat to the recovery of outbound leisure travel from those markets, in the view of Ryanair chief executive Eddie Wilson.
Speaking during a Routes Reconnected event today, the head of the Irish carrier’s mainline operation suggested that so-called staycations “will all be forgotten about” when destinations such as Spain and the Greek Islands open up again.
“We don’t have the infrastructure in Ireland and the UK for staycations,” Wilson states. “If the product was that good, there would be lots of inbound traffic. There isn’t lots of inbound traffic.”