Air transport is one of the sectors most affected by the coronavirus emergency. This is demonstrated not only by the swooping turnovers of the various international airlines, but also by the data on airports, which have remained closed or semi-deserted due to domestic and foreign travel restrictions.
According to data collected by Assoaeroporti between March and May the Italian airports lost 45 million passengers compared to the same period of 2019. "It is the worst drop ever, we are in the presence of three months of total blockage of air transport", declares the President of Assaeroporti Fabrizio Palenzona."
Speaking of individual months, the worst, according to projections, was right May, the month in which Italian airports lost 17 million passengers. April is also in free fall, which marks -16 million, while in March, the drop was slightly lower, equal to 12 million passengers, due to the fact that the restrictions only came into force in the middle of the month.
Numbers that have had very heavy repercussions on workers in the sector. In fact, Assaeroporti communicates that the managers have asked for layoffs for over 10.000 employees of management companies. Investments for the development of the national airport system that were planned before the explosion of the Covid-19 pandemic overwhelmed all the main international countries are also at risk. "Some airports, especially the smaller ones that play an important role in the development of the territories and for the mobility of citizens and businesses, are at risk of survival", denounces the trade association.
The arrival of the summer season arouses some hope of recovery. From June 3 they will resume the internal movements, while slowly the European countries are reopening their borders. As for the individual companies, Alitalia is slowly increasing the number of flights and daily routes. From 15 June Easyjet will resume flying to Italy, connecting Milan Malpensa with Palermo, Catania, Bari, Naples, Lamezia Terme, Cagliari and Olbia. The resumption of an international connection between Brindisi and Geneva has also been established. Ryanair will also return from 1 July is will restore 40 percent of its flights.
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