​When the pandemic first hit, the aviation industry came to a halt, which meant that many people lost their jobs, countries closed their borders, planes were parked up on runways or put in storage and, some retired earlier than planned. However, as the adult population began to be fully vaccinated and restrictions started to ease in April, we have seen the Aviation industry increase dramatically. Therefore, there has been a rise in aviation jobs and the number of flights taking off.

Summer 2021

Towards the end of summer, the flight industry saw a 51% increase in July 2021 of scheduled seats per week globally compared to July 2020. When the holiday season hit towards the end of July, it meant that the flight capacity for European holidays heightened to 21.5 million scheduled seats. For more information regarding statistics of flights visit here: https://blog.ch-aviation.com/2021/07/27/since-the-covid-19-outbreak-capacity-numbers-are-at-an-all-time-high/

The furlough scheme ended at the end of September 2021, and we could expect to see more redundancies in the aviation industry and further businesses going into administration. Changes to the travel traffic light system will show fewer countries to appear on the red list. All countries on the amber and green have combined to form one list and, you will no longer be required to take a PCR test 3 days prior to travelling to the UK if you are fully vaccinated. However, the requirement to take a PCR test 2 days after arriving in the UK was still in place.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) has stated the aviation industry has overcome the most difficult times of the Covid Pandemic and has advised the government to reduce the travel rules and allow for borders to open. Although in 2022, reports show there will still be a predicted loss of £8.5bn and, the industry is working towards a slow but positive recovery. 

For example, Ryanair has seen an increase in passengers on their flights. The London Stock exchange reported on their passenger traffic data that Ryanair passengers increased from 5.2m in September 2020 to 10.6m in September 2021, which overall shows an 81% increase from the year before.

Australia’s borders have finally opened at the beginning of November. They have had their borders shut since the beginning of the Pandemic March 2020, which equates to nearly 600 days.

What We Have Seen So Far

As we head into Winter 2021/22, airlines are not forthcoming with adding capacity too soon. Although, they have seen positive changes happening and more customers booking winter holidays, especially in October half term.

For example, Spain has seen a 1.9% growth for its flight schedule between November 21 - March 22, which is more than their schedule in 2019, pre-pandemic. Canary and Balearic Islands have also seen a 10% increase in their flight schedule for this year compared to 2019.  

From Sunday 24th October, the government relaxed the rules further by, fully vaccinated holidaymakers returning from non-red-list countries are not required to take a PCR test 2-days after arriving in the UK. Instead, you are required to take a lateral flow test booked through private providers and, the test is a lot cheaper compared to the original PCR tests.

Positive Impact For Resource Group

Overall, the aviation industry is finally looking up, and reports show that traffic will not return to normal until at least 2024, with business travel taking longer than leisure trips.

At Resource Group, we have seen positive movements with aviation companies recruiting for new opportunities in the industry. Whether this is for flight crew, engineers, mechanics, and office roles, there are a lot of jobs available - click here to see: https://www.employment.resourcegroup.co.uk/jobs.

In September, we saw our Resource Training solutions welcome 14 students from Airbus Helicopters, Airtanker, JMI, and DEA starting their exciting learning journey consisting of a fully approved Level 3 CAT A Aviation Maintenance Apprenticeship programme. They will be training with us for the next 10-months at our training facility in Cirencester to produce a safe and competent, work-ready apprentice that can actively contribute to their workforce. But it doesn’t stop there because we are already looking to recruit our next cohort of apprenticeships next year Jan/Feb 2022 for more of our world-leading clients.

This is all positive news for Resource Group and, we hope to continue growing our company.