AirBaltic Is Preparing for Another Summer of Flight Disruptions in Europe

Airline operations across much of Europe could be described as chaos last summer as travelers surged back after Covid. This summer is shaping up to be a lot better, with more staff hired across the system and airlines better prepared for the realities of post-pandemic flying, but it will still be tough.

“Airports, if we have a summer like last summer with all airlines growing, will be congested," AirBaltic CEO Martin Gauss said in an interview. While the airline's Riga base was not affected by the disruptions seen at the mega-hubs of Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and London, all of these are important destinations for AirBaltic and issues there can ripple out and affect operations across Europe.

Eurocontrol, which manages the airspace across Europe, forecasts the number of flights in the region to reach 95 percent of 2019 levels in July and August. But it does not expect the recovery to go smoothly, even with airlines and airports having largely addressed the staffing issues that plagued them a year ago. Airspace closures as a result of Russia's war in Ukraine, the risk of indu