EU flight level recovery

Aviation analytics firm Cirium has released a report detailing the recovery of flight levels from 42 European countries and regions after the COVID pandemic. 

According to Aviation Source News, the study compares the number of flights that departed last year with 2019. 

Key findings: 

• Only two European countries saw last year’s departures exceed pre-pandemic levels: Albania (18%) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (14%). 

• Greece, Portugal, and Iceland neared pre-pandemic levels, with departures being down only 2%, 4% and 5% respectively.  

• UK is in 29th position, with departures in 2022 being 25% down on 2019 levels.  

• Ireland performed better than the UK, with 2022 departures only 14% below pre-pandemic levels. 

• Despite European sanctions, flights from the Russian Federation were only down 20% of 2019 levels, meaning that its flight levels recovered faster than those in the UK. 

• Ukraine suffered the largest fall in flights, with 2022 departures 85% down compared with 2019 levels. 

The EU countries with the greatest post-pandemic recovery are: 

1. Albania (18%) 

1. Bosnia and Herzegovina (14%) 

1. Greece (-2%) 

1. Portugal (-4%) 

1. Iceland (-5%) 

1. Macedonia (-7%) 

1. Norway (-8%) 

1. Spain and Serbia (-10%) 

1. Turkey and Luxembourg (-11%) 

1. Croatia (-12%) 

The EU countries with the largest post-pandemic recovery deficit are: 

1. Ukraine (-85%) 

1. Belarus (-58%) 

1. Slovenia (-56%) 

1. Czech Republic (-45%) 

1. Moldova (-42%) 

1. Latvia (-40%) 

1. Slovakia (-37%) 

1. Finland (-36%) 

1. Germany (-35%) 

1. Sweden (-33%)