Italy’s record jet fuel sales a sign of Europe’s Covid recovery

Italy’s jet fuel sales last month reached their highest level in at least 22 years, signaling that the European market is returning to solid growth after years of slow recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The country’s consumption of 526,000 tons in July represents a 9.4% increase from a year earlier and is the highest for any month in ministry data starting in 2002. That compares with just 30,000 tons in April 2020, when lockdowns cratered demand.

“We are seeing significant flight activity growth across Europe this year as the continent benefits from new flight-path expansions and significant tourist demand,” Ronan Hodgson, an analyst at FGE, said by email.

However, recovery from the pandemic isn’t evenly distributed across nations, he said. For instance, Germany’s jet fuel demand declined 4.5% year-on-year in the first five months of 2024, according to separate federal data.

By contrast, Spain’s jet fuel demand for June was the highest for that month in data going back to 1969.

“Tourism activity in Mediterranean Europe is making up for some of the shortfall in somewhere like Germany, where weak economic performance has weighed on demand,” he said.