Nearly 200 airports in UK and Europe could go bust due to collapse in air travel

Nearly 200 airports in UK and Europe could go bust due to collapse in air travel

Nearly 200 airports across the UK and Europe are at risk of going bust within months due to the dramatic collapse in air travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the European airports trade body warned on Tuesday.

Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe), which represents airport operators, said it estimated that 193 out of Europe's 740 commercial airports face “insolvency in the coming months if passenger traffic does not start to recover by the year-end”.

The trade body said the at risk airports employ 277,000 people and generate collective annual revenues of €12.4bn (£11.2bn).

Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, said the figures “paint a dramatically bleak picture” for the future of the aviation industry, which has already suffered tens of thousands of job losses.

“Eight months into the crisis, all of Europe's