What concrete physical measures will be taken to respect health and social safety distances, and are they the same in France and Switzerland?
Matthias Suhr - Our top priority is to protect the health of our passengers and employees by adapting our operating procedures appropriately. EuroAirport complies with the requirements laid down by the Agence Régionale de Santé in France and the Office Fédéral de la Santé Publique in Switzerland, and duly implements them.
The detailed organisation of the concrete measures to be applied as soon as activities resume is currently being drawn up with the participation of all the partners involved in the scheme. They include, for exampleadapting passenger flowsthe separation of contact pointsThe use of a number of different materials, such as plexiglass covers in front of ticket offices road markings to indicate the distances to be respected, the provision of masks protection and disinfectantthe reinforcement of the intervention of the cleaningetc.
How will passenger flows in and around the terminal be reorganised?
Matthias Suhr - The exact organisation of passenger flows at the airport is currently being prepared and is therefore not yet complete. We are coordinating the measures with all the partners involved, and are basing them on the instructions issued by the authorities and airport operator associations, as well as on the airlines' procedures.
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What is the initial outlook for traffic recovery, and what does the future hold for low-cost?
Matthias Suhr - The airport remains open for all types of air traffic. At present, it is mainly freight flights that take place to transport vital goods for our region, as well as medical and other humanitarian flights. Wizz Air still serves Budapest three times a week and has announced plans to serve two further destinations this May. KLM plans to resume scheduled flights to Amsterdam from June, albeit at a low frequency, and easyJet has put its flights up for sale for winter 20202/21 and Easter 2021. However, we do not expect air traffic to reach the same volumes for some time to come. The recovery in passenger traffic depends on when the authorities relax their measures and when the borders reopen to tourist traffic. We also have to wait and see to what extent the airlines will restore their services and how quickly passengers will return. Furthermore, we are working on the assumption that the intra-European air transport market will be opened up before the non-European destinations, and that it is visiting passenger traffic, i.e. traffic from people visiting family and friends they haven't seen for weeks, that will pick up first. And, to a certain extent, business travel.
Could rail actually regain market share on short-distance routes?
Matthias Suhr - For its international connections, rail also needs open borders, and these remain closed at present. For short-distance point-to-point connections, however, rail is already a viable alternative to air travel. L'change in market share in favour of rail will depend in particular on the attractiveness of the offers and the behaviour of travellers.
