Easter is approaching pre-pandemic levels: more displacement and more occupations
- Posted on June 16, 2022
It’s more like normal
The first unrestricted Easter two years after the coronavirus pandemic has begun to approach normalcy, with plenty of planes, trains and road trips and 75 per cent occupations in rental accommodation. In the absence of a day to end the Easter holiday, the available data shows some optimism.
Airport manager AENA expects to operate 5,444 return flights this Sunday, 11% less than the same period in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.
On April 8, AENA reported that it had 57,376 inbound and outbound flights from that day to April 18, 10% lower than Easter 2019 (63,446).
For its part, Renfe expects 265,000 travelers to travel between the two days before the Easter holiday and between this Sunday and next Monday. This number will be split between 175,000 AVE and long distance and 90,000 medium distance.
The rail carrier offered nearly 2 million seats on its commercial and medium-haul service trains between April 9 and 18, a far cry from the 3 million it offered in 2019.
2% more on the highway
For its part, the Directorate General of Transport (DGT) calculates that as many as 14.6 million road trips will be made by the end of Easter, a 2% increase in 2019.
Several crashes and post-holiday return trips occurred on Sunday afternoon, complicating traffic, especially in Madrid and cities around Seville and Barcelona.
A total of 18 people have been killed in road accidents since operations began after Holy Week from 3:00 pm last Friday, April 8 to 8:00 pm this Sunday.
Hotel and apartment prices rise
The Spanish Federation of Tourist Housing and Apartment Associations (Fevitur) estimated that the occupancy rate of tourist rental housing was 75% this Easter, largely thanks to domestic tourists and inland destinations.
Aragon, Cantabria, Extremadura, Castilla y Leon and Castile-La Mancha have long been the most popular destinations for rent-a-home travelers, while those that rely on foreign tourist regions, such as archipelagos and cities, recorded worse data.
Hoteliers have yet to reveal their occupancy figures, but a few weeks ago they expected this week to be a “very positive” week, similar to 2019’s levels, and despite a slowing economy and inflation, even in some destinations exceeds this level.
It’s more like normal