Endless queues at security checks, crowded airports, delayed or even canceled flights... The pandemic has not finished disrupting the aviation sector.
Airports, unable to quickly make up for the lack of staff, reduced to a trickle during the pandemic, have not regained their cruising speed.
If we add to this the strikes among the personnel of the airports and the companies, some flights are impossible to ensure.
Passengers, already faced with rising ticket prices due to inflation, may then be forced to change their plans a few days before departure.
Fortunately, the Paris platforms, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Orly, are doing better than others, Air France having maintained its level of activity during the Covid crisis.
Beware, however, of the strikes announced in Paris for July 1 by the inter-union staff of Paris airports.
It is therefore better to take precautions before flying away this summer.
Read alsoBetween strikes and cancellations, should easyJet be avoided this summer?
Getting to the airport (even earlier)
For airlines and airports, recruitment difficulties result in a reduced number of check-in counters and security control lines.
And therefore, by a higher waiting time to these.
"We can see queues, crowded airports
," confirms Anne Rigail, CEO of Air France interviewed on Radio Classique on July 27.
She advises passengers to come a little earlier before a flight:
“On a long haul, for example, you have to come 3 hours before, and be prepared to wait a little longer.
»
Check the cancellation conditions
In this context of uncertainty, it is all the more advisable to choose easily modifiable and cancellable plane tickets.
Even if the companies are forced, in most cases, to reimburse their passengers when they cancel a flight, buying a modifiable plane ticket allows you to avoid being caught off guard and canceling your ticket yourself. in case of doubt about the good performance of the trip.
This summer, the cancellation conditions are very variable depending on the companies, which have not all taken the post-pandemic turn in the same way.
A few companies, such as Air France, maintain very flexible conditions.
All tickets can be changed free of charge before the departure date (a fare difference may however apply).
If the passenger wishes to cancel his flight, he will receive a non-refundable credit valid for one year.
Others, on the other hand, have returned to stricter conditions.
This is the case of Transavia, whose tickets are not cancellable.
Any modification incurs a fee of €50.
Similar conditions at Easyjet, whose change fees vary between €28 and €45.
It is therefore necessary to be aware of the conditions of sale when booking your flight and opt for modifiable and cancellable tickets, offered by most companies at higher prices.
Revise your budget upwards
Inflation, which is weighing on the economy due to the post-Covid recovery and the war in Ukraine, is not sparing the airline sector.
The rise in the price of oil, in particular, automatically leads to an increase in the price of kerosene.
"The cost of fuel represents 35 to 45% of the price of a ticket for a long-haul flight, and 25 to 35% for a medium and short-haul"
, specified last March in
Figaro
Didier Bréchemier, senior partner at Roland Berger, air transport specialist.
In France, the prices of flights departing from the territory, for all types of journeys, increased by 19.4% in May compared to the same month of 2021, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
For vacationers, there is no other choice than to increase the budget allocated to transport by cutting back on expenses for activities during the stay or to opt for a less distant and less expensive destination.
