Travelling Europe: Expectation versus Reality

Travelling Europe: Expectation v/s Reality

Who does not want to travel the world especially after two years of being confined to home country due to Covid restrictions? Where to travel in 2022? What are the best places to travel during Covid? These are a few questions that have been bothering most of us this summer. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, travel numbers will reach pre-pandemic levels in 2022, the CEO of Expedia predicts that this summer will be the busiest travel season ever and the airlines are encountering unparalleled demand. This prediction has proved to be true as air travel to European countries is so bad already that some airlines are advising passengers not to fly this summer. It’s the season of ‘Airmageddon’ – name given to the chaotic reality of summer travel, with airlines and airports gearing up for potential meltdown. The brunt of this meltdown will be heavily borne by the passengers making their experience stressful and bad.

After two years of pandemic restrictions, travel demand is back but airlines and airports are not able to cope up with the anticipated rush of passengers. They had slashed jobs during the depths of Covid-19 crisis and still struggling to keep up with the pace of recovery. Long queues and piles of abandoned or lost luggage are becoming an increasingly common sight at airports across the continent. Airlines have cancelled thousands of flights so far, leaving passengers stranded, while airports have struggled with technical glitches and industrial action.

Affected Airlines

According to the data provided by Mabrian, the travel intelligence platform, the top ten airlines cancelling in Europe are easyJet, Turkish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Wizz Air, Vueling, TUI fly, Wizz UK, United, Air Europa and Saudia.

Gatwick and Heathrow airports in London are one of the major sufferers of this cut down by airlines. The airport lines and long and lost luggage is piling up. It is definitely going to be a disordered summer for travellers in Europe as major airlines such as British airways have announced cancellation of its flights this summer.

Netherlands’ busiest airport- Schiphol is trimming down flights stating there are thousands of airline seats per day above the capacity that security staff and airport can handle. Airlines all over the world have cancelled more than 26.000 flights scheduled for August. Nearly 16,000 flights scheduled to fly in August were cancelled by various airlines in Europe amounting to total of 60% of flights cancelled world-wide.

Measures taken-

Considering the current air travel situation, the Commission of the European Union has made sure to remind all the passengers of their rights. Passengers informed of the cancellation less than two weeks before the scheduled departure have the right to compensation. Despite however all these assurances the passengers are facing many other problems such as shortage of water and many toilets not operating. These are things that cause concern and stress for people making travel a nightmare this summer.

How long will travel chaos last?

The sad news this summer is that unfortunately the end may not be in sight anytime soon. Chaos will likely continue till the end of the summer, as passenger numbers increase over and above the capacity of the staff. Several measures have been taken to overcome this problem such as recruiting more staff but it takes time to train the staff to take up the roles of security personnel and baggage handlers.

If you to have hassle free travel this summer then ditch flying all together and embrace train travel this summer instead wherever such a facility is available.  One also need to bear in mind that the ghost of pandemic has not completely got off our back as reports pour in significant increase in Covid cases.