193 AIRPORTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ARE AT RISK OF BANKRUPTCY

As many countries re-introduce restrictions due to the pandemic, the airports of the European Union are at risk of bankruptcy. That is why the appeal of the Airports Council of Europe (ACI Europe) to the EU authorities to extend measures to support the aviation industry, including mechanisms to compensate for losses to the airports themselves, is a completely natural step in the context of a new lockdown.

Experts note that although the new restrictive measures taken by the executive authorities of Germany, France or the UK do not prohibit local airlines from flying, they can inevitably affect the entire transportation system within the EU.

According to rough estimates, 193 airports may go bankrupt in the event of a decrease in passenger traffic.

First of all, those small regional aviation airports that do not have a tangible cash flow from cargo transportation are under the threat of financial ruin.

According to representatives of the ACI Europe, the extension of the scheme that allowed to support aviation in the first wave of the pandemic until the end of the next year might become a salvation for many air harbors However, if the airlines receive a significant part of their income from the transportation of goods, the same cannot be said about those European companies, for which the transportation of passengers has always been the main source of income.

Airports cannot use the advance incoming payments model, as the airlines do.

They receive all the funds after the service has been provided. At the same time, if the governments of the EU countries previously helped the air carriers by allocating almost € 32 billion, the airports received a little more than 2.5% of this amount (approximately € 840 million).

Analysts recorded a sharp decline in passenger traffic in Europe (by 73%) back in September. By mid-October, the average passenger traffic fell by 75%, and in some countries (Switzerland, Great Britain) dropped by 80%. There is no prohibition to operate the flights, but the restrictions imposed on the movement of passengers can turn another lockdown into a mourning requiem for the airports that are on the verge of financial collapse.

According to experts, small and medium-sized airports are the first to face a risk of insolvency.

Many of them previously acted as discounters, receiving the main profit from the monopoly position of the outlets located inside. Now, such sources of income are rapidly dwindling to almost zero, taking into account the factor of unpredictability of the further behavior of the authorities of individual EU countries.