No doubt, Covid-19 was and is still a shock for the aviation industry. From one moment to the next the world of flying came to a standstill. But this is only one side of the coin. While passenger flights paused, air navigation service providers continued to deliver safe passage for repatriation flights, cargo flights, military training, and cater for increasing medical deliveries 24/7 across Europe.
Traffic recovery since 2Q21 is tracked and publicised using centralised analysis which averages out demand across a wide geographic area. However, this data lacks sufficient detail for operational planning at local level. Traffic recovery is highly volatile and often concentrated. Neighboring ATC centres (ACCs) witness extreme peaks and troughs with some control sectors already close to capacity and others nearby unusually quiet.
In fact, nobody knows when and how traffic will come back. But FABEC air navigation services providers are making preparations by investing in people and technology in order to deliver more resilient air traffic services.