The latest data from analytics firm Cirium has revealed that intra-European international seat capacity has fallen by half across ten of the continent’s busiest airports. This significant decline comes in the face of complex travel restrictions curated to contain the new strains of COVID-19. These restrictions have left travellers with a host of protocols to grapple with, leading to a decline in travel. 

Heathrow numbers fall drastically 

London Heathrow’s intra-region arrival seats have fallen to a little more than 5,100 – down from approximately 19,000 just before Christmas. This comes in light of the UK’s tightening restrictions during the nation’s third lockdown. Frankfurt numbers dropped from over 20,300 to just under 10,500 over the same period.

On February 10th, Heathrow recorded just under 50,000 inbound seats on cross-border flights from European airports, while Frankfurt saw nearly 51,000. While organisations are hopeful about vaccination programmes leading to phased relaxations, there is still uncertainty about the government’s ability to control Covid-19 mutations. Cirium data has shown that under 3,000 of the passenger jets operated by European airlines have in-storage status, which is significantly higher than the global average of 32 per cent.

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