EU: Portugal registers the second lowest decrease in commercial flights compared to 2019
In the Portuguese case, the number of commercial flights in March was 8% lower than in the same month in 2019.
Portugal is the second country in the European Union (EU) where the recovery in the number of commercial flights is more advanced when compared to pre-pandemic levels, announced Eurostat on Thursday.
According to the European statistics office, the number of commercial flights in Portugal last month was 8% lower than in March 2019, before Covid-19. This decrease is the second lowest among European countries and only Croatia performed better, with a 6% drop.
In March, the number of commercial flights across EU countries soared 156% from 2021, but was still 27% below pre-pandemic figures.
Last month, 389,181 commercial flights were operated in the region, up from 151,986 operated in March 2021 and up from 296,362 in March 2020. In March 2019, 530,400 commercial flights were operated in the European bloc.
According to Eurostat, Slovenia is the European country with the greatest decline in commercial flights, having registered a 56% drop in March 2022, compared to the same month in 2019. It is followed by Sweden (-45%), Latvia (-43%), Czech Republic (-42%) and Finland (-41%).
Eurostat also notes that, this year, commercial flights also remain below pre-pandemic figures in all ten non-EU countries analysed. The institution highlighted that the largest falls were recorded in Norway (-34%), the United Kingdom (-29%), Israel (-28%), Switzerland (-24%) and Egypt (-19%).
However, when compared with March 2021, Eurostat signals that there is a clear increase in traffic with eight countries: United Kingdom (+599%), Norway (+375%), Israel (+366%), Morocco (+236%), Switzerland (+230%), Egypt (+192%), Turkey (+121%) and the United States (+77%).
