Due to the Covid crisis and its restrictions, passenger transport on trains, planes and buses has collapsed. And if all the experts were predicting a return to normal in 2024 or even 2025, that’s without counting people’s appetite for travel. No offense to environmentalists, the will and need to move is as old as humanity itself. Therefore, this summer, and on the eve of the big departures, we are witnessing a tremendous excitement that defies all predictions and surprises many operators. In some destinations, trains, planes and buses are full, sometimes for days. Supply is struggling to keep up with demand and strikes at stations, airports and even, for the first time, low-cost carriers such as Ryanair are not helping matters.
In order to absorb these passenger flows, the SNCF decided to increase its offer by 500,000 seats, while the traffic has returned to normal since the spring. How Putting TGVs back into circulation, which would normally have spent the summer in a garage awaiting their technical inspection? A bit like doing a 10,000km repair on your car that you’d only do at 11,000, these trains will finally wait until late summer for their overhaul. No need to worry about their safety.
Air France is one of the companies that has reduced its offer the least during Covid. It is now taking advantage of this bet with the full capacity of the network operating in both the medium and long term (except for Asia, which is currently very poorly served). Less fortunate, easyJet, after cutting thousands of jobs, is now struggling to recruit flight crew and is being forced to cut hundreds of flights. Added to this is the shortage of staff at some British, German or Danish airports, which unreasonably lengthens the queues to pass through the security filters. Some airports, such as Gatwick, London, Amsterdam or Frankfurt, have even gone to the point of asking airlines to reduce their offer by 10%. Never seen before.
New passenger habits have driven up prices
But the summer will be hot also in terms of prices. Indeed, since the pandemic, holidaymakers have changed their habits and are increasingly buying their tickets at the last minute. Only, the closer you get to the beginning, the more expensive they are. That’s one of the rules yield management, which prices vary according to both demand and departure date. Carriers didn’t need to raise their fares, new passenger habits did it for them. What is better to support the increase in the price of electricity for TGV, kerosene for airplanes?
Psychologically and culturally, this current travel rush is very interesting. It can be compared to the Spanish “movida”, which led to a cultural boom after years of mourning the death of Franco. After being forced, everyone wants to enjoy freedom and leave, some in a lodge, some on the beach, some in the mountains. Good luck to those carriers who had the intelligence to foresee this phenomenon and who will seize the opportunity to recover from dark years and billions of euros in losses. Paradoxically, the increase in the price of energy carriers also benefits them. with diesel and petrol prices rising, many French would rather catch a train or plane than take their car. But will they have a choice? Bison Futé will heat up even more on big departure days.
VIDEO. “When I get on the train, I will be calm.” passengers adjust to SNCF strike
Source: Le Figaro
