The recovery of the travel sector is linked to the economy rather than removal of burdensome legislation, according to travel recruiters.

Last week, at a meeting of Association of European Airlines (AEA) in Brussels, airline chiefs called government regulations “unacceptably burdensome”.

But according to Ian Brooks, director at Gail Kenny Executive Search, government regulations and bureaucracies always feel more burdensome in economic downtimes, and the airline industry is less regulated today than it ever has been.

“Only an improvement in the overall economy is going to help the sector as a whole. In the meantime, those airlines who have most flexibility in terms of their cost base, and particularly with their staff, will survive and prosper.”

And Maria Moore, director at New Frontiers, sees good times ahead: “Travel has been up in the last month because of last minute bookers. As a recruitment consultancy, we are still busy. It is only on the leisure side; business travel is still down.”