French traffic slightly up, prices down

The health crisis is still impacting the aviation sector in France. Last June, passenger traffic in French airports corresponded to 28.3% of that observed during the same month in 2019, that is to say before the pandemic, reports BFM TV on Tuesday. This is what the figures of TendanCiel, the monthly indicator of commercial air traffic established by the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC), reveal.

However, this is 8.9 points more than in May. In total, in the first half of the year, traffic was 19.2% of that seen two years ago.

Signs of improvement

The indicator shows some signs of improvement. “Domestic traffic crosses the 50% threshold for the first time since October 2020: it reached 54.7%, or 12.6 points more than the previous month”, indicate the statistics. “The most significant increase is observed on the links connecting the metropolis to overseas (+29.2 points)”, he added. International traffic is also up 8 points and “passes the symbolic 20% mark for the first time since last August”. “The recovery mainly concerns Africa (32.7%) and the European Union (25.9%)”, it is also specified.

As BFM TV explains, airlines are also continuing to lower their prices. “The prices of plane tickets from France fell in June 2021 with a decline of 3.2% compared to June 2019 and 2% cumulatively over the first half. This overall decrease is particularly noticeable on flights to and from overseas ”, specifies the DGAC.