Europe Sees Modest Rebound in Cheap Flight Bookings: New Skyscanner Data


Skift Take

If you're looking for flickers of hope, new data suggests that budget airlines are seeing better-than-expected rebounds in Europe. But routes serving some countries, like beleaguered Spain, remain weaker than others.

Europe has experienced a choppy tourism recovery, and Skift has been tracking the mixed signals. Fresh data underscores how the recovery in flight search has been uneven during these crucial high-season weeks. The figures suggest a modest rebound in some leisure flight bookings in Europe overall, but a retrenchment in other areas. Skyscanner, the Edinburgh-headquartered, travel price-comparison brand owned by Trip.com Group, said its search and bookings volume for short-haul flights have been growing. Yet caution remains the watchword. The brand's poll of nearly 2,000 Europeans between July 20 and 26 found that 24 percent perceive it is safe to travel internationally. Across Europe in general, short-hop cheap flights remain a segment recovering faster than the rest of aviation. Budget carrier EasyJet said Tuesday that its planes flew 84 percent full in July and that it would add more than 10 percent to i