Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation

Britain's airports are coming under fire for failing to prepare for this week's jubilee getaway and the busy summer season, as passengers face long delays and cancelled flights.    

"The U.K.'s airports are in crisis because thousands of jobs have been slashed," Sharon Graham, head of the country's biggest trade union Unite, said on June 1.    

Turkish Airlines swung a net income of $161 million in the first quarter of 2022 from a net loss of $229 million in January-March 2019.

Total revenues of the flag carrier grew more than 10 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the first quarter of 2019 to reach $3.05 billion.

United Airlines reported on April 20 that it lost $1.38 billion in the first quarter of 2022 but said it expects to return to profitability in the current three-month period as post-pandemic travel ramps back up.

The Chicago-based airline posted revenue of $7.67 billion in the quarter that ended March 31. That was down 21 percent from the first quarter of 2019.

The difficult start of another year due to Covid-19 is confirmed by the data of the passenger traffic of Athens International Airport for January. As expected, the influence of Omicron variant still affects air travel. The passenger traffic of Athens International Airport for January amounted to 772,700 passengers, slowing down slightly compared to the previous seven months.

The U.S. will reopen its land borders to nonessential travel next month, ending a 19-month freeze due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the country moves to require all international visitors to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The long-awaited compulsory quarantine-free travel between Turkey and England resumed on Sept. 22 after Turkey was removed from the COVID-19 travel red list last week.

As of 4 a.m. (0300 GMT), all those arriving from Turkey will no longer need to self-isolate in a designated hotel, which was a mandatory process before.

As of Monday, July 26, Bulgaria is closed to foreigners coming from four other countries - the Netherlands, Malta, Andorra and Georgia. Bulgarian citizens arriving from these countries, permanent residents and members of their families are allowed in our country only against a negative test for COVID-19, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or not.

IATA expects 2021 to be another down year for battered passenger airlines

Greece said on Sunday it was extending restrictions on domestic and international flights until Feb 15ruary and February 22 respectively to help curb the spread of Covid-19.

It is becoming increasingly expensive to travel by plane as air fares are now getting higher, said tour operators specializing in selling air tickets. A check at random airline websites also shows that, depending on the chosen period, tickets in 2021 cost 10 to 30 percent more than pre-crisis levels when flights were extremely affordable.