In its latest media briefing, de Juniac was asked about whether the imposition of social distancing on aircraft would affect profits. “It is very clear that if social distancing is imposed inside the aircraft we will need to neutralize a huge proportion of seats, at least a third for short and medium haul aircraft”.
Saying that normally an airline would need a load factor of around 70-72 percent for short to medium haul aircraft, de Juniac said, “It means two things: either you fly at the same price, selling the ticket at the same average price as before and then you lose an enormous amount of money, so it’s impossible to fly for any airline. Or you increase the ticket price for a similar product by at least 50 percent and then you are able to fly with a minimum profit.”
In conclusion, de Juniac said, “And so it means that if social distancing is imposed, cheap travel is over. Voila”
Read the original story by Tom Otley from Business Traveller from here.
