Will this year's holiday season be marked by chaos at airports? What awaits the travel industry in 2023

According to the management of both Ryanair and Wizz Air, the upcoming holiday season may come with numerous difficulties that will affect the comfort of passengers. The return of interest in air travel after the COVID-19 pandemic and numerous staff shortages may lead to chaos at airports, which we know full well from 2022.

Potential areas of difficulty

Michael O'Leary of Ryanair, and Jozsef Varadi of Wizz Air say that the 2023 holiday season will be a time of numerous challenges that carriers will have to face. The main causes of potential problems at airports are the following:

- the closure of parts of airspace in Europe by NATO;
- staff shortages in airport support services; and
- an insufficient number of air traffic controllers.

It is worth noting that the problem with strikes by air traffic controllers is already affecting French passengers. Protests have been taking place since January 19th, grounding  approximately 20,000 travellers per day.

Return to pre-pandemic profitability

According to IATA data, in 2023 the number of travellers choosing air travel is expected to amount to approximately 4.2 billion. This is over half a billion more than 2022. This means that airlines will return to pre-pandemic profitability. Total revenue is projected at 438 billion which is more than a 40% increase compared with 2021.

Despite very optimistic forecasts, 2023 is also a time of a second wave of bankruptcies. The first carriers to have declared bankruptcy are Flyr and Flybe. Moreover, when faced with problems that may prevent air passengers from reaching their destination on time, many travellers may choose to take the train or their own car, especially for shorter distances.

If your holiday flight is cancelled or delayed due to an airline strike, remember that you are entitled to compensation! To be able to apply for compensation, all you have to do is fill out the claim form or click the button below, and we will take care of the rest. You can get up to 600 euro per person!