EUROPE. European cities are increasing their air connectivity at a rapid pace, with Istanbul standing out following the opening of its new global hub, and to Turkish Airlines’ push to expand its network.
According to data from travel analyst ForwardKeys, European long-haul connectivity in the third quarter of 2019 (July to September) rose by +6.2% year-on-year, while connectivity between European cities was also up by a healthy +3.9%. Fourth quarter growth was less rapid at +3.4% and +2.3% respectively.
ForwardKeys VP Insights Olivier Ponti said: “Q3 is the most important quarter of the year for Europe as it embraces the busy summer season, which accounts for 34% of annual arrivals.” Flight connections – and connecting passengers in particular – are key to duty free and travel retail spending levels.
Ponti added: “While cities like Helsinki and Warsaw are showing significant increases in capacity [see tables above], they have done so from a relatively small base.
“The cities which really stand out for increasing capacity from a larger base are Lisbon, Vienna and – most of all – Istanbul, which features in the top seven cities for long haul and intra-European capacity growth in both Q3 and Q4.”
Long-haul seat capacities for Istanbul in both quarters are significantly above four million, and more than six million for intra-European routes.
Among the top ten fastest-growing airports for long-haul seat capacities the nearest (but distant) rival is Madrid with more than two million in both quarters.
Among the top 10 fastest-growing cities for intra-European capacities, the nearest rival to Istanbul in Q3 was Munich with 5.2 million seats, and Milan in Q4 with 4.5 million expected seats.
Ponti attributed much of Istanbul’s success to the completion of its new airport, to the strength of Turkish Airlines, and to the rise of two low-cost carriers: Pegasus and Atlas Global. “These are now the hub’s second- and third-ranked airlines,” he said.
During Q3, cities that grew their long-haul capacity the most were Helsinki (+21.4%), Warsaw (+21.3%) and Athens (+17.7%). Istanbul was seventh with +14.9%. However its seat share of the market was 8.1% which was more than the seat share of all the six faster-growing airports above it combined.
