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RIO DE JANEIRO—IATA is “quite concerned” about demand trends after the summer season, the association’s Regional Vice President Rafael Schvartzman said at its annual general meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
The association forecasts a “strong summer” for air travel in Europe, even though April has shown only minimal growth. Travel patterns have shifted significantly with many consumers choosing to stay closer to home for their summer vacation. But demand levels for after the summer are still unclear, as higher costs are passed through in the form of higher fares and consumers may cut spending because of economic uncertainty.
Demand for travel to Spain and Portugal is particularly strong, some airlines including Eurowings have said. Many carriers have also been forced to shift capacity from the Middle East onto other markets because of the Iran war, airspace closures and security threats to civil aviation.
Schvartzman said he does not expect a jet fuel shortage “on the European level.” That assessment had a forward validity of 4-6 weeks, he cautioned. But “summer should be okay.”
Operations are made more complicated because of the flawed introduction of the European entry and exit system. Schvartzman pointed out long delays in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece for non-European travelers. “Passengers are having a very difficult time; waiting times of 4-6 hours are unacceptable,” Schvartzman said.
He urged more flexibility in the introduction phase, extending the partial suspension beyond Sept. 7 and also ad-hoc suspension if queues at a particular airport become “unmanageable” at certain times.
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