Airlines grapple with staff shortage, high energy cost as demand surges
Global airlines are getting hard-pressed by staff shortage and aviation fuel supply as traffic demand surges ahead of the Easter holidays.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), yesterday, announced that air travel lately posted a strong rebound across all regions
But the consequences are the high cost of operations, pressure on airport infrastructure and shortfall in pilots and crew that have kept airlines on the back foot. Several airports and airlines that laid-off staffers in the pandemic era are struggling to bring them back in lieu of emerging fervor in travel demands.
The airport apologised for the disruption. “As we continue to recover from the pandemic and passenger numbers grow, security queues may be longer than usual at times,” it said via Twitter.
Among Nigerian airlines, the pressure is much more from the high cost of Jet A1 which has remained at an average of N500/litre following earlier intervention by the National Assembly to bring it down from N620/litre last month. The 200 per cent rise in aviation fuel has forced some airlines to reduce frequencies on some low-traffic routes.
As of yesterday, thousands of holidaymakers in Europe have seen their Easter getaways disrupted or cancelled because airlines and airports do not have enough staff to meet the recovery in demand as pandemic restrictions are eased in Europe. Low-cost carrier easyJet airline was one of the worst affected, saying it cancelled around 60 UK flights on Tuesday and expected to pull a similar number in the coming days. It cancelled more than 200 on the weekend and another 62 on Monday.
“The peak Northern summer travel season will be critical for jobs throughout the travel and tourism value chain. Now is the time to prepare. Governments can help by ensuring that border positions are staffed adequately and that background security checks for new staff are managed as efficiently as possible,” Walsh said.