Car rental users ’should expect air fares to remain low’

Car rental customers heading to Gatwick Airport or another travel hub in the near future should not expect air fares to return to pre-credit crunch levels, it has been suggested.

Spokesman for the Association of European Airlines David Henderson said his organisation does not anticipate the price of flights to go up in the coming months as the industry is still suffering at the hands of the economic downturn.

"We don’t think the airlines will be able to put their fares back to where they were," he commented. "We are continuing to look at a very hard time in 2010."

However, Mr Henderson – whose group represents 33 major airlines across Europe – also remarked that it is unclear what actions the industry will take over the next year, as there are no real indicators that a recovery is starting to take place.

Gatwick Airport is one place showing positive signs. There was a year-on-year increase in passenger numbers in October – the first month in which this has happened since May 2008.

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