Signs of recovery for air transport in Europe in 2009 - Issue number 2/2011 - Products Statistics in Focus

Icelandic volcanic eruption in early 2010 shows fragility of the air transport industry

A decrease of 5.9% to 751 million passengers travelling by air was observed at EU-27 level between 2008 and 2009, reflecting the economic crisis which began in 2008. However, first signs of recovery became visible during the second quarter of 2009, when there was a decline of 6.8% in comparison with air passenger transport in the same quarter of 2008, against a fall of 12.0% for the first quarter of 2009. The last two quarters of 2009 confirmed the recovery in the air transport industry. This positive trend has to be taken with care: although this publication describes the situation of air transport in 2009, it also shows the effect the volcanic eruption in Iceland in early 2010 had on transport by air for passengers. It did lead to a substantial, though temporary, decrease of transport by air. While the first quarter of 2010 confirms the upward trend started in 2009, April 2010 shows a fall of 18% compared with April 2009.