Passengers inside the departures terminal of Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport. Reuters
Passengers inside the departures terminal of Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport. Reuters
Passengers inside the departures terminal of Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport. Reuters
Passengers inside the departures terminal of Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport. Reuters

European passenger air traffic not expected to be back at pre-pandemic levels until 2025


Gillian Duncan
  • English
  • Arabic

Passenger traffic at European airports is not expected to be back at pre-pandemic levels until 2025, according the body which represents the sector.

ACI Europe said traffic has made a “strong comeback” since last spring, but the recovery is expected to level off.

“Passenger traffic has made a strong comeback since last spring and has so far been very resilient in the face of increasing geopolitical and economic headwinds,” said Olivier Jankovec, the head of ACI Europe.

“However, we now expect the passenger traffic recovery to level off moving forwards, with the timeline pushed to 2025 before Europe's airports finally get back to where they stood before Covid-19 hit.”

In some areas, passenger traffic has fully recovered.

Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest hub, said its passenger traffic reached pre-coronavirus quarterly traffic levels between July and September.

Airports expect this festive season to be their busiest for the last three years, since Covid-19 hit.

Heathrow achieved 84 per cent of its pre-pandemic passenger numbers in October, thanks to the school half-term, the gradual return of business travel and a strong recovery in Middle East and Central Asia.

Staff at Heathrow and several other British airports are set to strike over Christmas, with passengers warned to brace for disruption.

British Border Force workers are due to start industrial action for several days starting on December 23.

It is feared passengers could wait for hours in passport control queues, or be held on aircraft, under airport plans to manage the disruption and limit overcrowding in a “worst case scenario”.

However, Heathrow has said most travellers will not be affected.

“We are doing everything we can to protect a full flight schedule on strike days, so departing passengers should expect to travel as normal,” Heathrow said.

“We are ready to welcome millions of passengers heading off to enjoy the holidays with family and friends,” Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said.

“We have extra people in the terminals on the busiest days, including me and my management team, to ensure we get people on their way as smoothly as possible and start to bring the joy back into travel.

“We are doing everything we can to protect full operating schedules on Border Force strike days and departing journeys and the vast majority of arriving journeys should be unaffected.”

Florence and the Machine – High as Hope
Three stars

SNAPSHOT

While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.

RACE CARD

6.30pm Mazrat Al Ruwayah – Group 2 (PA) $36,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

7.05pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Turf) 2,410m

7.40pm Meydan Trophy – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (T) 1,900m

8.15pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 - Group 2 (TB) $293,000 (D) 1,900m

8.50pm Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m

9.25pm Handicap (TB) $65,000 (T) 1,000m

Red flags
  • Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
  • Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
  • Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
  • Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
  • Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.

Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

Bert van Marwijk factfile

Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder

Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia

Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands

What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
 
  • Grade 9 = above an A*
  • Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
  • Grade 7 = grade A
  • Grade 6 = just above a grade B
  • Grade 5 = between grades B and C
  • Grade 4 = grade C
  • Grade 3 = between grades D and E
  • Grade 2 = between grades E and F
  • Grade 1 = between grades F and G

Like a Fading Shadow

Antonio Muñoz Molina

Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez

Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)

The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
  • Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000 
  • Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000 
  • HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000 
  • Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000 
  • Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000 
  • Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000 
  • Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000 
  • Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
  • Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
  • Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR

US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.

KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.

 

Champions parade (UAE timings)

7pm Gates open

8pm Deansgate stage showing starts

9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral

9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street

10pm City players on stage

11pm event ends

3%20Body%20Problem
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Updated: December 20, 2022, 10:18 AM`