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In mid-May, Uber’s amusement business returned to pre-pandemic levels in the UK relaxation Blocking restrictions encouraged users to get back on the road faster than the company expected.
Wider geographic coverage beyond big cities like London and an embrace of new forms of transportation, including traditional taxis, helped fuel a strong rebound for Uber in the UK and parts of Europe last month.
Across Europe during the week beginning May 17, Uber’s total gross reserves recovered to more than 80% of the level recorded in the same period in 2019.
The figures show a remarkable recovery after the company reported 38% year-on-year throw in global mobility income during the first three months of 2021.
“Frankly we didn’t expect the speed of recovery we’ve seen in some key geographies and definitely in the UK,” said Anabel Diaz Calderon, Uber’s regional general manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In the UK, there are a lot of blockages during the week restrictions on hospitality were reduced, gross bookings matched or slightly exceeded those of the equivalent week two years earlier.
Spain and Germany also recorded gross bookings, a measure of customer spending on Uber’s various transportation services that fits any discount or promotion, which returned to the 100% level around the third week of May compared to the same period in 2019, even so many coronavirus restrictions were still in place.
Other key markets are returning more slowly. In France, gross reserves accounted for about 70% of pre-pandemic levels during the week of May 24, after removing several restrictions.
London, one of Uber’s largest city markets, lags slightly behind other parts of the UK as many office workers and tourists still stay at home.
But the recovery in other UK cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds is so strong that passenger demand is already starting to outpace the supply of Uber drivers, who are now classified as workers instead of contractors following the February Supreme Court ruling.
“We are expected to need up to 20,000 additional engines for the growth we need in the UK,” Diaz Calderon said. In the US, Uber has been forced to do so increase incentives to lure drivers into the midst of a wider labor shortage in some less paid roles.
While acknowledging that there was “a bit of over-excitement” after removing the blockade restrictions, Diaz Calderon said he had “no concern that the growth pattern we’re starting to see is solid.”
The return to pre-pandemic activity levels has come even before a broader recovery in business travel and tourism, which will involve trips such as airport operations that traditionally formed an important part of Uber’s business. .
Across Europe, Uber has expanded its various mobility services to 40 smaller cities in recent months, making it now available in more than 340 cities across the continent.
Entry into some of these new cities, especially in Spain, Austria and Turkey, has only been possible because Uber worked with the traditional taxi industry, a group more often seen as a competitor or opponent of its ride-sharing model. . Uber said that since early 2021 it had registered 17,000 drivers across Europe, whose cars can now be booked through its app and can also hit the streets normally.
“The association with taxis is a strong lever for business in many geographies and, in fact, allows us to grow or unlock various regions,” Díaz Calderón said.
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