Passenger numbers at European airports exceeded pre-Covid levels for the first time last year. Airports in Europe welcomed more than 2.5 billion passengers, industry organisation ACI EUROPE reported.
With various lockdowns and border restrictions, the Covid-19 pandemic severely impacted travel. Air traffic passenger numbers dropped, and many airlines were in dire straits, relying heavily on government support. Slowly but surely, however, business returned to normal, and last year, passenger traffic even exceeded pre-Covid levels in Europe. Passenger traffic in European airports increased by 7.4% since 2023 and stood 1.8% above pre-pandemic levels.
"Europe's airports welcomed an additional 200 million passengers last year, with many surpassing their previous historic records," Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI EUROPE said.
"We saw growth despite heavily inflated airfares, continued pressures on supply, mostly tepid economic growth and geopolitical tensions. That speaks volumes about how consumers are now prioritising experiences and travel in particular."
The growth was mainly driven by international passenger traffic (+8.8% compared to 2023) rather than domestic travel (-6.3% below pre-pandemic levels).
Brussels Airport not recovered
Brussels-South Airport in Charleroi in particular saw an increase in traffic of 11.8% compared to 2023, and an increase of 27.7% compared to 2019.
The top five European airports are London Heathrow (83.9 million passengers), Istanbul (80.1 million), Paris Charles de Gaulle (70.3 million), Amsterdam Schiphol (66.8 million) and Madrid (66.1 million).
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However, almost half (47%) of Europe's airports remain below their pre-pandemic volumes. Smaller airports are on average still 34.5% below that level. Brussels Airport is one example. Belgium's biggest airport welcomed 23.6 million passengers in 2024, 10% below the airport's record year in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
ACI EUROPE expects demand for air travel to remain resilient. "We are forecasting a 4% growth in passenger traffic for 2025," said Jankovec. "But we will need to keep that forecast under review, considering the overwhelming global political and economic uncertainties."
