The decision of several countries to ban flights to the United Kingdom supposes the third great blow to the tourism sector, with the airlines, again, in the front line. The coup comes in the middle of the Christmas season, which is usually the busiest time after the summer, and with the airlines already in a limiting situation.
Most of them had cut their flight offer for these dates, due to the drastic fall in reservations. The tourist values ​​of the Ibex live this Monday a black day on the stock market, they are the most exposed to the economic effects of the pandemic. The falls reached more than 10% in the case of IAG, a group to which Iberia and British Airways belong, and which is also listed in London.
The decision to isolate the UK It also affects other companies that are already very weakened, such as the German Lufthansa or the Dutch KLM. Both have received state aid of 9,000 million, the first, and 3,400 million, the second, to be able to survive this crisis.
Aena has 201 flights scheduled for Monday that link the United Kingdom with the different Spanish airports, both outbound and inbound. According to sources from the airport manager, at the moment there are no cancellations, given that Spain has not banned flights, although it has reinforced the control of the PCRs that are required of them.
This means finishing off a sector that is already on the edge, with losses estimated at 100,000 million dollars according to IATA, the International Air Transport Agency.
Three waves
When the pandemic broke out in China, the airlines began canceling flights to the Asian country. Months later, when the virus already reached Europe, the borders were closed. During the confinement the companies were stopped, with the planes parked, without entering, burning cash and increasing debt. It must be remembered that it is an industry with a very heavy fixed cost structure.
After this first wave,the second hit to the sector came in the summer months, when countries like the United Kingdom and Germany imposed quarantines and this completely stopped travel.
With a drop in air traffic so far this year of more than 70% (In the months of confinement the activity was practically nil), European governments have had to spend billions of euros to rescue their flagship companies.
If it weren’t for the aid that France, Germany and the Netherlands, among other countries, have injected into Air France, Lufthansa or KLM, these companies would not have weathered this crisis. In Spain, Air Europa has received 475 million from the state to avoid bankruptcy. In fact, its purchase by Iberia, of the IAG group, is about to be closed.
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