Flying is once again as popular in Europe as before the Covid-19 crisis, with passenger numbers reaching pre-pandemic levels again for the first time, according to figures from the ACI Europe airport organisation.
In the first half of 2024, the number of passengers at European airports increased by 9% compared to the same period in 2023. Even when compared to the pre-Covid year 2019, this represents a small increase of 0.4%.
"Our industry has now finally turned the corner on the pandemic," ACI Europe Director-General Olivier Jankovec said in a press release. "We are in for our best summer ever in terms of passenger traffic."
Major differences between countries
Leisure traffic and low-cost carriers were particularly responsible for the growth in the years after Covid-19, with international air traffic in particular booming (+10.3%) in the first half of the year. Still, domestic air traffic also grew by 4.2%.
Airports that recorded the biggest growth were those relying predominantly on demand driven by leisure and VFR (visiting friends and relatives), such as Poland (+24.5%), Greece (+23.9%), Malta (+19.1%), Luxembourg (+16.9%), Portugal (+14.2%) and Croatia (+13.6%). Still, there are still big differences between countries: airports in Finland, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Sweden are still far from full recovery.
Paris-Orly Airport. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
What comes next will largely depend on whether demand remains resilient and sustained for autumn, he added. "For now, what keeps us awake at night is whether the Schengen states will effectively be ready for the start of operation of the EU's Entry-Exit System (EES) planned for next November. If not, we might be in for major disruptions."
ACI's statistics are not limited to Europe, but also include figures on the number of air passengers in Turkey, Russia, Israel and Central Asia, accounting for 500 airports in 55 countries.
