European airport trade body ACI Europe says air traffic is back above pre pandemic levels for the first time, but only just, by 0.4pc.
London Heathrow remained the busiest European airport with 39.8m passengers in January to June (+7.4pc vs. H1 2023 | +2.8pc vs. H1 2019), followed by Istanbul which handled 38.1m passengers (+6.9pc vs. H1 2023 | +18.1pc vs. H1 2019).
Istanbul was followed by Paris-CDG at 33.2m passengers (+4.4pc vs. H1 2023 | -8.7pc vs. H1 2019), Amsterdam Schiphol with 31.8m passengers (+11pc vs. H1 2023 | -7.9pc vs. H1 2019) and Madrid with 31.7m passengers (+11.3pc vs. H1 2023 | +8.3pc vs. H1 2019)
Overall passenger traffic across European airports increased by 9pc in H1 of 2024 compared to the same period last year, with international traffic driving most of the growth at 10.3pc.
H1 passenger volumes were 0.4pc above H1 2019 levels, indicating a full recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic for the airport industry.
Some European airports, particularly in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, showed significant growth while others struggled to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
Freight traffic across the European airport network increased by 9.6pc in H1, with the top airports for freight traffic including Istanbul, Madrid, and London-Heathrow.
- Majors: Istanbul Ist (+18.1pc), Rome Fco (+9.8pc), Madrid Mad (+8.3pc), Barcelona Bcn (+5.1pc), London Lhr (+2.8pc).
- Xl: Athens Ath (+24.5pc), Istanbul Saw (+18.5pc), Lisbon Lis (+14.4pc), Palma De Mallorca Pmi (+13.3pc), Antalya Ayt (+7.1pc).
- Large: Sochi Aer (+90.8pc), Milan Bergamo Bgy (+30.1pc), Malaga Agp (+24.8pc), Catania Cta (+22.9pc), Alicante Alc (+21.8pc).
- Medium: Tirana Tia (+239.3pc), Samarkand Skd (+191.6pc), Trapani Tps (+125.7pc), Kutaisi Kut (+104pc), Zadar Zad (+93.9pc).
- Small: Babimost Ieg (+176.4pc), Perugia (+129.9pc), Pori Por (+115.2pc), Bucharest Bbu (+88.4pc), La Gomera Gmz (+78pc).
