Corporate Aviation Europe’s snow woes have provided an effective confirmation of a consistent theme during 2010: travelling by airline is becoming far less pleasant, and much more unpredictable. And, like many of the year’s other upsets for scheduled carriers, this has provided a substantial boost for private aviation.
December’s weather-related closures at UK and other European airports echo the chaos that February blizzards in the US wreaked on airline timetables. The Icelandic volcano saga that erupted in April, which saw long-term closures of European airspace for fear that the ash clouds might pose a risk to safety, was also bad news for airlines and passengers. Meanwhile increasingly intrusive and lengthy security procedures are serving to remove the speed advantage of airline travel – not to mention any last vestiges of glamour.
