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EUROPE. Passenger traffic growth in Europe hit +4.5% year-on-year in the first six months, according to ACI Europe. EU airports grew at +5.1% against +2.3% at non-EU airports.
This contrasts sharply with the situation as recently as 18 months ago, according to ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec. “Then, non-EU airports were propping up weaker passenger traffic growth at EU airports; we are now through the looking glass. The situation has flipped and EU airports now lead the growth,” he said.
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ACI Europe’s results in summary |
Jankovec expects the reversed trend to remain for the rest of 2015, citing continued weakness in the Russian economy as well as the impact of lower oil prices on the Norwegian economy. “Meanwhile, EU economies keep improving, in particular with the former bailed out economies of Ireland, Spain and Portugal surging ahead,” he said. “Geopolitical instability and renewed terrorist threats in North Africa are also redirecting some leisure traffic to EU destinations.”
Among airports welcoming more than 25 million passengers per year, Madrid (+11.4%), Istanbul Atatürk (+6.4%), London Gatwick (+5.4%), Amsterdam (+5.0%) and Barcelona (+4.8%) recorded the highest increases in passenger traffic.
For airports welcoming between ten and 25 million passengers, Athens (+23.3%), London Stansted (+16.9%), Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (+16.6%), Dublin (+15.1%) and Lisbon (+13.0%) recorded the strongest growth.
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A breakdown of passenger traffic across Europe’s airports |
In the range between five and ten million passengers, Milan Bergamo (+32.1%), Porto (+16.8%), Glasgow (+13.8%), Bucharest Henri Coandă (+12.6%) and Budapest (+11.8%) posted the strongest figures.
Finally, among airports welcoming less than five million passengers per year, Santorini (+33.2%), Sibiu (+32.3%), Cluj (+30.5%), Astrakhan (+29.5%) and Ponta Delgada (+29.1%) led the way.
ACI Europe also announced figures for the month of June, in which overall passenger traffic increased +3.2%. Across all airports, Madrid (+11.3%), Athens (+21.9%), Dublin (+18.0%), Porto (+18.5%), Milan Bergamo (+14.5%), and Glasgow (+14.1%) posted particularly strong figures.
The European airport trade body’s traffic report includes all types of civil aviation passenger flights: network, low cost, charter and others. In total, 211 airports are included, representing more than 88% of European air passenger traffic.
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The map shows passenger development in European countries in June 2015 |
