Passenger numbers at European airports in October increased by a robust 5.5 pc compared to traffic in the same month last year, says a report by Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, federation of all civilian airports in the continent.

In a press statement, ACI Europe says that it noticed sustained growth in passenger traffic across the continent’s airport network, in line with the growth reported in the preceding quarter, which registered a growth of 5.2 pc in Q3, 2024. As a result, traffic volumes now stand 3.3 pc above pre-pandemic levels recorded in October 2019.

The statement adds that the growth was driven by strong international passenger traffic, which surged 7.1 pc year-on-year, while domestic passenger traffic dipped slights by 0.1 pc compared to October 2023.

Olivier Jankovec

“October saw passenger traffic staying on the upward trajectory, continuing the positive trend we have seen throughout 2024. This reflects changing travel patterns and shifting seasonality, with extended demand for leisure and visits to friends and relatives (VFR) beyond the traditional summer peak into the ‘shoulder season’ that precedes the off-season Winter months. This also reflects strong demand resilience despite air fares having increased on average by +30% this year compared to pre-Covid, softening economic sentiment and increasing geopolitical tensions. While Europe’s airport network as a whole has now exceeded pre-pandemic traffic levels, the reality remains that 45% of them still remain below such levels in October – with performance diverging widely across both national markets and the different segments of our industry. The root causes are supply pressures, geopolitics, and the new post-pandemic aviation market reality,” says Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI Europe.

ACI Europe says that airports in different zones grew at different pace in October. The airports within the EU+ market, comprising the 27 EU nations as well as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, saw a 5.7 pc increase in passenger traffic compared to October 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic levels by 3.9 pc.

It adds that volume growth was particularly strong in Eastern and Southern EU countries, with several nations achieving double digit growth over October 2023, notable Estonia (19.2 pc), Hungary (18.8 pc), Croatia (18.6 pc), Czechia (15 pc), Cyprus (11 pc) and Finland (10.7 pc).

Amongst largest EU+ markets, Italy (9.1 pc) and Spain (6.2 pc) posted the strongest results, followed by Germany (4.1 pc), the UK (2.7 pc) and France (2.1 pc).

ACI Europe says that however, Germany remains the furthest from pre-pandemic recovery, showing a 12.1 pc decline compared to October 2019, in great part due to ill-advised national aviation policies, especially as regards taxation, which have constrained market recovery and air connectivity developments.

It adds that airports in the non-EU+ market, comprising Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Türkiye, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, saw passenger traffic increasing by 4.5 pc year-on-year, achieving a full recovery to 2019 levels, standing just 0.2 pc above.

It says that the market continued to register even starker national performance gaps, as this is where the impact of geopolitical tensions and conflicts is the harshest, with airports in Ukraine still unable to restart commercial operations and those in Israel, down 7.2 pc versus October 2023 and 52.6 pc below October 2019, seeing continued decreasing passenger traffic. Instability in the Near East also limited growth at airports in the major market of Türkiye, which grew at 2.5 pc, along with aircraft maintenance issues at the national air carrier.

Conversely, volumes keep growing at impressive rates in Albania (47.5 pc), Uzbekistan (22.2 pc), Kosovo (21.5 pc) and Georgia (21.8 pc) when compared to October 2023.

Of the biggest airports, Rome-Fiumicino grew fastest at 15.1 pc, followed by Barcelona (8.2 pc) and Madrid (5.5 pc), while London Heathrow (up 3.7 pc) retained its position as Europe’s busiest airport, followed by Istanbul (up 3.6 pc) and Paris-CDG (up 3.9 pc). Frankfurt in Germany saw minimal growth of 0.3 pc, reflecting the weakness of the German aviation market.