French airport operator ADP does not expect Chinese air traffic to return to pre-Covid-19 levels this year, citing subdued demand and slow economic growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Reuters reported today. ADP expects a full recovery in China’s air traffic in 2026 at the earliest.
Managing expectations
Industry hopes that travel demand would drive a long-haul recovery in China have cooled in the wake of China’s property market crisis and slowing economic growth. “We do not expect a full recovery this year either, especially given the limited demand,” ADP CEO Augustin de Romanet said.
He said the company expects visitor arrivals in China to reach 65 percent of 2019 levels in the summer season, which starts in April. They are now around 50 to 55 percent. De Romanet noted that a full recovery may be expected in 2025, but is more likely in 2026.
Global operations
The group’s total traffic last year was 98.7 percent of 2019 levels; at airports in the Paris region, it was 92.3 percent of pre-pandemic levels. Passengers from China accounted for 0.7 percent of traffic at Paris airports in the fourth quarter of last year, or 28.5 percent of 2019 levels, according to ADP.
ADP operates Paris’ Orly, Le Bourget and Charles de Gaulle airports, among others. It says on its website that it manages or operates more than two dozen airports on every continent. The main ones include airports in Zagreb, Amman and Santiago de Chile.
Source: Czech Press Office
