The cost of flights has risen this summer between 40 and 50% depending on the destinations in the midst of a storm of cancellations due to the saturation of some European airports and the strikes called by pilots, cabin crew and ground staff of companies such as RyanairEasyJet, Lufthansa o British Airways (the latter in preparation). The stoppages threaten to ruin the vacations of thousands of travelers in the summer of the recovery of tourism after two and a half years of the pandemic. The Spanish travel agencies They have achieved this summer the sales levels of July and August 2019 after a weak start to the year. The most demanded trips are to Caribbean, New York y western Europe, as required Eva Blasco, Vice President of the European Association of Travel Agencies and Tour Operators (ECTAA).Blasco, CEO of Europa Travel, recognizes that the cascade of strikes is complicating the work of Spanish agencies, who lose hours every day trying to reschedule their clients’ trips. The directive specifies that the cost of flights has risen in July and August “between 40 and 50%”, although it recalls that they started from very low prices. The airlines have linked the rise in the cost of flights to the rise in the cost of fuel despite the fact that most already had this incidence covered because they buy kerosene with future contracts.
Vice President of the European Association of Travel Agencies He underlines that this summer the planes “are very full despite the fact that the Spanish market is very book-oriented at the last minute and some customers are withdrawing when they see the problems with the flights”. Apart from cancellations and delays, some airlines have been forced to cancel operations due to difficulties in executing the schedule (such as Lufthansa, which this summer has canceled 3,100 flights).
The explosion in demand in Europa It has been a challenge for airlines and airports, which must quickly adapt their capacity after two years at a minimum. This reactivation has also activated labor claims by the staff of Ryanair, EasyJetBritish Airways, Air France and the group Lufthansa. To this, has been added stoppages in the French air control, which complicates traffic to or from Spain.
Lufthansa
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Last Wednesday, Lufthansa grounded 130,000 passengers from its frankfurt hub and for the cancellation of 1,023 flights due to the strike of the company’s ground workers. EasyJet pilots They have called three 72-hour strikes in August due to the company’s refusal to restore their pre-pandemic working conditions. The cabin crew Ryanair They have announced new stoppages in their ten Spanish bases from Monday to Thursday between August 8 and January 9. British Airways pilots they are preparing a strike for this month of August.
Despite the noise caused by the protests of air personnel and the increase in ticket prices, the Spanish have launched to travel abroad after two years of plans canceled by the pandemic. Eva Blasco points out that there is a lot of demand for trips to countries in western Europa as England, France e Italia. “They are also working very well. Caribbean, New York and the cruise ships”, he assures Blasco. However, “destinations like Poland it is included Germany they are not being sold because of the war Ukraine”, he warns.