By Dimitris Delevegos

The soaring energy costs and the price hikes due to the war in Ukraine are the main factors that could undermine the anticipated rising course of air transport this summer. However, industry insiders tell Kathimerini that the conflict in eastern Europe has not, for now at least, had any direct effect on tourism bookings, nor has it forced foreign carriers to adjust their schedules or capacity to Greece.

Consequently, the network operation plan (NOP) of Eurocontrol for the period from March 7 to April 17 shows that as of April 1 flying activity in Greece will reach up to 90% of 2019. The NOP has taken into account the scheduling of airlines with the cancelation of flights and airspace bans due to the war.

Even so, across Europe there is a significant increase anticipated in flying activity, with the estimated number of flights on a daily basis coming to 27,000 on Fridays starting from April 1, which is a figure that is higher than in the summer of 2021.

Of course, besides the number of flights, what matters is the number of passengers who are actually on them. Sources say that since March 1 traffic in the major Greek airports has come to 60% of three years earlier.

This article was previously published at ekathimerini.com.