Drowning in money
How much money did private testing suppliers make from COVID? Recently released results from market leader Randox provide some clues.
Lies, damn lies and statistics
Ryanair and Wizz claim to have “industry leading” seat factors. Is that really the case, or is it just down to differences in the way they report the figures?
Qatar Airways returns to profit
Qatar Airways surprised many people by reporting a $1.55 billion pre-tax profit for their financial year ending in March 2022. With almost every airline in the world recording losses due to the pandemic, how did they do it?
A performance comparison of the European LCCs
Back in 2020, I analysed the relative performance of the three big European low-cost carriers in the final 12 months before the pandemic hit. With all three having now reported figures up to March 2022, I revisited my analysis to see what had changed.
European airline winners and losers from the pandemic
As the fog starts to clear on the airline recovery, which airlines are emerging from the pandemic as winners and how well did market analysts do early on in predicting who that would be?
Heathrow passenger numbers rebound in April
Heathrow's April passenger numbers hit 75% of pre-pandemic levels, but it is still telling its regulator that it will achieve only 65% for the full year and needs higher charges. Airlines were not impressed.
Big losses announced at easyJet
Despite clocking up another £0.5 billion of losses over the last six months, things are finally starting to look up for easyJet on the demand side, enabling it to begin to close the gap in performance that opened up against its rivals during the pandemic.
Virgin versus British Airways - who did better in 2021?
Virgin Atlantic has published a pre-tax loss figure of £594m for 2021. How did its performance compare to that of arch-rival, British Airways?
New trading guidance from Ryanair
Ryanair issued new guidance for its full year ending March 2022 today. The headline loss of between €350m and €400m still makes grim reading, but figures for March suggest that things may finally be looking up.
Will the oil price hike derail the airline recovery?
Just as airlines were beginning to see a strong recovery in bookings, will inflated fuel costs derail the long hoped for recovery in profitability?
European airlines count the cost of airspace closures
Collateral damage from the war in Ukraine continues to hammer airline share prices. On top of rocketing fuel prices, airspace restrictions over Russia are making flights to China, Japan and Korea uneconomic for European operators.
War in Europe
Shocking news from Ukraine today. Understandably, airline share prices fell heavily. What are the practical implications for airline management teams?
COVID travel test suppliers revisited
Back in July, I looked at prices for travel tests and found that the Government's own website was full of suppliers advertising prices that weren't actually available. Grant Shapps promised to clean things up, but six months later, has anything changed?
Predictions for 2022
With 2021 ending badly thanks to the Omicron variant, what will 2022 hold for the travel industry? I had a look at the possibilities.
Can Heathrow reclaim its crown as the biggest airport in Europe?
Heathrow airport has fallen behind its two main European competitors during the pandemic. Can it get back to its former position as number one in Europe?
Implications of Omicron for travel
Just as the travel industry was beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel, with travel restrictions being lifted worldwide, the arrival of Omicron has seen restrictions reimposed once again. How long will they last this time?
A not quite end of year review
As we approach the end of what has been another eventful year for the aviation industry, I reflect on how things have turned out compared to my expectations at the end of 2020.
Here we go again
Airlines in Europe were finally starting to get more cheerful, with bookings back to something like normal as travel restrictions were relaxed. But could the discovery of the new Omicron variant send the industry back to square one?
Divergent performance from Europe’s low cost carriers
As we enter the recovery phase for Europe’s aviation industry, how well are the big low-cost airlines doing and how well placed are they for the future?
An inflection point for the European network carriers
The European network airline groups are starting to recover after almost two years of catastrophic losses. What do their latest results tell us about how well they've weathered the crisis and their prospects going forward?