Summer outlook and Current Situation

Due to the current events in European air traffic, topics like delays, traffic jams and flight cancellations are currently taking up a lot of space in the public perception. The three interlocutors at today's press breakfast Bettina Ganghofer, CEO of Salzburg Airport, Gottfried Math, Managing Director of TUI Austria and Stefan Beveridge, Managing Director of Eurowings Europe therefore naturally also met the need for information on the current situation in European holiday traffic. In addition to his management function, Stefan Beveridge also sits in the cockpit of the Eurowings Airbus fleet as a captain and was connected to the press breakfast from Palma de Mallorca to answer open questions.

From the current European reporting in the last few days, it could be seen again and again that the biggest challenge for airports and airlines is the acute shortage of staff. "Of course, our staffing levels are also far too thin. Although we have done everything we can to carry the staff through the pandemic, we have not yet been able to compensate for the retirements and fluctuations to the desired extent. Of course we can still cushion the incoming and outgoing air traffic with our experienced permanent staff, but this must not and cannot remain a permanent state. This is a very important concern for me, also in the sense of our great core team," says Bettina Ganghofer. The strong recovery in travel - most recently also further driven by the lifting of the Corona test obligation - has boosted holiday demand exponentially and the curve of holiday-hungry people has risen steeply. However, the entire industry has been hit hard after 2 years of the Corona pandemic, as many people employed in the aviation sector have taken their careers elsewhere during the pandemic. The Lufthansa Group expects the situation to remain tense beyond the start of the summer.

"The current flight schedule adjustments of numerous airlines in Europe will, however, lead to the load being taken off the system during traffic peaks and air traffic will thus return to a normalisation of processes," says Stefan Beveridge. "We promise to do everything we can, together with our partners, to restore the system as quickly and as well as possible so that customers from Salzburg can reach their destinations punctually and reliably, as they can expect from an airline of the Lufthansa Group. We would like to sincerely apologise to the affected guests for the inconvenience caused in the past few days," Beveridge emphasised.

Although the bottlenecks in the transport of holiday guests have been the focus in recent days, Salzburg Airport and the largest tour operator in Austria, TUI, naturally also want to give an insight into the 2022 summer programme. Holiday seekers can expect attractive offers for the 2022 summer holiday from Salzburg. In addition to the classic NONSTOP holiday highlights, the HUB flight connections from Salzburg are also ideal for holidays in faraway countries. Even though the general conditions are challenging this summer after two years of pandemic, the signs are clearly pointing to recovery in the entire air transport industry. "Holiday time unfortunately brings traffic jams, delays and detours on the roads, on the railways and in air traffic. Compared to 2018, we had 4 more flight cancellations this year in the period from January to the end of June, which is regrettable, but can be explained by the current situation. We trust in the countermeasures taken by our airline partner Eurowings so that the situation for our passengers can be rectified in the best possible way. I am sure that despite all the adversities we are heading towards a good summer," said Ganghofer. The flight cancellations last weekend could be absorbed with joint efforts with a "Rescue Flight System" organised by TUI. The focus was on helping and supporting guests in the holiday regions and transporting guests booked on the cancelled EW flights in Salzburg and Innsbruck to their holiday destinations.

TUI Austria Managing Director Gottfried Math: "As market leader, it is our claim to offer all our guests a carefree holiday with unforgettable moments. Therefore, we naturally regret the situation last weekend very much. We trust that our airline partners will fly their summer flight programme to the most beautiful holiday destinations by the sea without any further major incidents."
With TUI from Salzburg to your summer holiday 2022
With an extensive summer flight programme, TUI offers its guests in Salzburg and the surrounding area a short and relaxed journey to their holiday destination. TUI guests benefit from a wide selection of hotels and exclusive TUI hotel brands at an attractive price.
Salzburgers are keen to travel and the booking curve is clearly pointing upwards. In particular, the classics around the Mediterranean are in demand and are currently recording growth that is far above the level of 2019.

25 weekly departures to six popular holiday destinations
"65 per cent of our guests from Salzburg even want to travel at least twice in the summer," knows Gottfried Math, Managing Director of TUI Austria. "I am all the more pleased that we have again expanded our flight programme from Salzburg for the summer." The guaranteed seats have been increased by 75 per cent compared to 2019. New flights this summer are to Cyprus, Antalya is back with two weekly connections and an additional Crete connection is also new to the programme. When it comes to the most popular holiday destinations, Greece is once again in the lead. Up to ten times a week there are flights from Salzburg to the Greek islands: In addition to the three classics Crete, Rhodes and Kos, TUI also offers Zakynthos, Corfu and Karpathos. The around 40 TUI brand hotels and clubs such as Robinson, TUI Magic Life, TUI Blue, TUI Suneo and TUI Kids Club are strongly positioned in Greece and are characterised by a high level of guest satisfaction.
If you are still looking for accommodation for your summer holiday, you should hurry. Offers are available in every good travel agency and at www.tui.at.

FACTSHEET

TUI Summer 2022 from Salzburg

The appetite for travel continues unabated. We are seeing an extraordinary run on travel with incoming bookings far above 2019 levels for many destinations. People have already reserved the most beautiful hotels on the most beautiful beaches. Our recommendation: If you are still looking for accommodation for the summer holidays now, you should hurry.

The most popular holiday destinations