Christmas flight cancellations surge amid Omicron concerns
This weekend around 7,500 flights were cancelled worldwide amid concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant.
According to data tracking website FlightAware, just yesterday 3,273 flights were slashed, with half of cancellations affecting US routes.
Today, around 1,925 cancellations were recorded – with Chinese and US routes among the worst hit. China Eastern was forced to cancel 400 flights while US regional airline SkyWest slashed 147 trips.
Airlines – including Lufthansa, United and Delta – cited crew members testing positive or isolating as the disruption’s main cause.
Lufthansa on Friday said it would cancel around 33,000 flights over the winter period as a result of the Covid-induced reduction in passenger demand, City A.M. reported.
Speaking to German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, the airline’s chief executive Carsten Spohr revealed the airline was currently operating at 60 per cent capacity, as bookings for the mid-January to February period were hit the hardest, especially in the group’s home markets.
“Above all we are missing passengers in our home markets of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium, because these countries have been hit hardest by the pandemic wave,” he said.
Austria is likely to see a reduction in flights coming from neighbouring countries as a result of its latest Covid restrictions.
From Christmas Day, several countries – including Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norways – were classified as “virus variant” regions, meaning that travellers need to quarantine upon arrival.
People who are fully vaccinated and have received their booster will not required to self-isolate if they can also show proof of a negative PCR test taken in the 72 hours before arrival, City A.M. reported.