Research Shows More Than Half Of Airports Haven’t Recovered All Pre-Pandemic Routes

Small and medium-sized airports worldwide are still struggling to restore their full route networks, even as passenger numbers return to pre-pandemic levels. Large hub airports have generally fared well, with many surpassing 2019 traffic levels.

Returning to the skies.

Airports such as London Heathrow (LHR) and Dubai International Airport (DBX) are able to capitalize on connecting traffic and home carriers to restore connectivity to destinations previously served before international borders closed and travel ground to a half at the onset of the pandemic. It is often the smaller airports that have struggled to regain service as airlines reevaluate their networks in the face of changing demand.

According to AeroCloud Systems, over half (53%) of airports reported they have not been able to restore all routes that were available pre-pandemic. This is due to a combination of factors, ranging from airlines that previously served the airport failing to survive the pandemic and consolidating services into nearby locations.

Photo: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

This struggle was most acutely felt at regional airports. In the United States, 86% of airports with revenues of between $12 million and $60 million have been unable to restore all their previously served routes. The same data showed that 82% of Italian airports with revenues under €115 million ($125 million) had yet to restore full route networks.

Why is this happening?

In some cases, this is due to airlines focusing on more profitable routes and removing services to airports in similar catchment areas. This is especially noticeable in the United Kingdom. The Welsh Airport of Cardiff (CWL) has seen a significant passenger drop from 8,309 departures in 2017 to just 3,283 in 2023, a decline of 62.2%.

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The research found that 80% of UK airport leaders are concerned that passengers will choose to fly from other nearby airports. In the Welsh example, nearby Bristol International Airport (BRS), which also attracts passengers from Cardiff and South Wales, has seen just a 0.4% decline in departures between 2017 and 2023.

The changing landscape of airlines is another contributing factor. Over 40 airlines bit the dust in the first year of the pandemic. 2021 was another challenging year for airlines, but 2022 fared slightly better, with only 19 airlines going out of business

There have, of course, been notable success stories of new startup airlines over the same period. Several of them, such as Avelo and Bonza, specifically target underserved and unconnected airports.

What are they doing about it?

In response, almost all the airport leaders surveyed are looking to increase the number of flights traveling through their airports by attracting new airlines and optimizing take-off and landing slots to increase capacity. Airports are still constrained in their ability to attract new services, especially smaller airports without the capacity to offer the large financial incentives of competitors.

One of the emerging ways airports can increase their capacity has been by automating systems like landing slot management to allow for more flight movements than previously available, which in turn eases staffing workloads.