Passenger traffic at Europe’s airports rose by 4.9 per cent year-on-year in August thanks to “strong” summer demand, according to the latest figures from airports organisation ACI Europe.
The increase was primarily driven by international flights, which rose by 5.6 per cent year-on-year in August, while domestic demand only saw a 1.6 per cent uptick over the same timescale. Overall European airport traffic for the month was 7 per cent higher than pre-Covid levels recorded in August 2019.
The countries to see the largest growth in August were Poland, with a year-on-year passenger rise of 15.1 per cent, Slovenia, which was up by 11.7 per cent, and Romania (+10.3 per cent).
But the largest five European aviation markets all saw increases below the continental average of 4.9 per cent in August. Germany recorded a 4.2 per cent year-on-year rise, followed by Spain (+3.8 per cent), Italy (+2.8 per cent), UK (+1.7 per cent) and France (+1 per cent).
The countries to see the largest year-on-year declines in airport passengers in August were Latvia (-6.7 per cent), Estonia (-4.5 per cent) and Iceland (-2.5 per cent).
London Heathrow and Istanbul airports continue to duel for the position as Europe’s busiest hub, with both airports exceeding eight million passengers in a single month for the first time during August.
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