- Passenger traffic fell by 0.7pc in April 2026.
- The EU+ market grew by 0.6pc.
- Spain recorded 3.7pc growth.
- Germany saw an 8.5pc decrease.
- Freight traffic decreased by 5.3pc.
ACI Europe has reported a 0.7pc decline in passenger traffic across the European airport network in April 2026. This marks the first year-on-year drop since the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic began in April 2021. The EU+ market recorded growth of 0.6pc while the non-EU+ market contracted by 7.6pc.
Factors that contributed to the results included the conflict in the Middle East, the shift of Easter holidays into March, and industrial action in Germany. Spain posted growth of 3.7pc and Italy 2.2pc among larger markets. Germany saw an 8.5pc decrease, the UK 2.1pc and France 0.9pc. Medium and small airports outperformed larger hubs with increases of 2.1pc and 5.5pc respectively.
Olivier Jankovec shared “April marks a clear inflection point for European air traffic. While we were already seeing a normalisation of passenger traffic growth after the strong post-pandemic bounce back, geopolitical instability – most notably the war in the Middle East – is now further weighing on growth and exposing significant differences in performance across markets.”
- Majors: Barcelona BCN (+4.1pc), Madrid MAD (+3.3pc), Amsterdam AMS (+2.7pc), Paris CDG (0pc), Rome FCO (-0.6pc).
- Mega airports: Málaga AGP (+9.5), Zurich ZRH (+6.1pc), Copenhagen CPH (+5.8pc), London STN (+3.1pc), Palma de Mallorca PMI (+2.6pc).
- Large airports: Tirana TIA (+25.3pc), Charleroi CRL (+16.2pc), Malta MLA (+13.5pc), Milan LIN (+13.3pc), Kraków KRK (+13pc).
- Medium airports: Bratislava BTS (+144.7), Skopje SKP (+31.1pc), A Coruña LCG (+25.4pc), Chișinău RMO (+24.6pc), Timișoara TSR (+21.5pc).
- Small airports: Stockholm BMA (+699.8pc), Bucharest BBU (+210.6pc), Hatay HTY (+165.8pc), Córdoba ODB (+135.1pc), Friedrichshafen FDH (+89.1pc).
