European travel companies have reported a major drop in
travel in the wake of the Paris attacks and the subsequent lockdown in
Brussels.
Valencia, Spain-based travel data analyst ForwardKeys reported
a “159% drop” in flight bookings to Brussels since the start of last weekend.
“If bookings are 100% down that indicates that no net
bookings were made. 159% down means that in addition to no bookings being made,
there were cancellations equal to 59% of the number of bookings made on the
equivalent day last year,” ForwardKeys CEO Olivier Jager explained.
On a positive note, ForwardKeys’ analysis of forward air
bookings showed that business travel bookings for the weeks of Dec. 7 and 14
are running well ahead of last year, suggesting that a significant proportion
of business trips to Brussels have likely been postponed rather than canceled
outright.
Meanwhile, British travel company Thomas Cook told the
Guardian that the company had a drop in bookings from France and other European
source markets after the Paris attacks.
“There is an unprecedented level of disruption. In my 30
years in the industry I have never seen anything like it,” Thomas Cook CEO
Peter Fankhauser said.
Nevertheless, Fankhauser said that he was hopeful that
business would rebound fairly quickly.