Five years after Covid-19 shut down borders and brought airports almost to a standstill, the number of Europeans taking the plane has surpassed the highs reached pre-pandemic. Five billion arrivals and departures were handled by Europe’s airports in 2024, according to aviation trade body, ACI EUROPE, leading to an estimate of over 2.5 billion passenger journeys for the year.
The figure represents an air traffic increase of 7.4% year-on-year and is 1.8% more than pre-pandemic levels. However, ACI notes that 47% of Europe’s airports are still operating below their pre-pandemic volumes due to challenges and performance gaps caused by “aviation market changes and geopolitics.”
Geopolitics caused an acute distinction in performance between the EU+ market (EU, EEA, Switzerland and the UK), which outperformed those in the “Rest of Europe” bloc. Those in the east and south of the EU+ saw marked growth thanks to passengers’ “greater propensity to fly” and their tourism sector. Meanwhile, Israel (-33.3%), Russia (-13.5%) and Ukraine (no traffic) pulled the Rest down.
The increase of over 200 million passengers was driven by “leisure & Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) demand and Low-Cost Carriers largely defining traffic performance”, said Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI EUROPE. The consolidation happening in the aviation sector, such as Lufthansa’s ITA takeover and the hotting up competition for TAP Portugal, as well as shifting “connectivity dynamics” are also influential factors as airlines and their passengers navigate “inflated air fares, continued supply pressures, mostly tepid economic growth”.
Looking ahead to next year, ACI is forecasting 4% growth.
How did individual countries fare in terms of passenger traffic in 2024?
— ACI EUROPE (@ACI_EUROPE) February 13, 2025
Changing market dynamics and the continued impact of geopolitics have driven stark performance gaps.
Find out more below in the chart and our Press Release:https://t.co/vSZcNKEAZt pic.twitter.com/Kt4prCL2nI
Top airports by volume
The top European airport for passenger volume named by ACI in the Full Year 2024 Report was London Heathrow, where 83.9 million passengers pushed the hub 5.9% beyond 2023 and 3.7% up in 2019. The airport will be relieved by that performance, having just received an ear-chewing from its main clients over the value-for-money it represents.
Istanbul came second with 80.1 million passengers “an impressive +16.9% above its pre-pandemic (2019) levels” despite engine maintenance issues at Turkish Air, ACI said. Paris Charles de Gaulle maintained its third spot, with 70.3 million passengers. The Olympic Games were named as a limiting factor for growth meaning the airport remains 7.7% below pre-pandemic (2019) levels.
Amsterdam Schiphol came in fourth, welcoming 66.8 million passengers, an increase of 8% over 2023, but still 6.8% down on 2019. Madrid took fifth, handling 66.1 million passengers, up 9.9% in 2023 and pushing 7.2% above its pre-pandemic (2019) volumes.
Which European airports came out on top compared to (pre-pandemic) 2019?
— ACI EUROPE (@ACI_EUROPE) February 12, 2025
Find out more in the chart below – and discover more in our Press Release:https://t.co/vSZcNKEAZt pic.twitter.com/d6EXMekcWK
Freight
There were few surprises when it comes to freight, with the top of the list featuring almost the same contenders as for passenger volume, except: Istanbul knocked Frankfurt off the top spot, shifting 1.97 million tons, which was 39.6% up on 2019. The second-placed German hub was followed by Paris CDG, London Heathrow and Amsterdam, but Liège is a less familiar name in fifth spot (1.15 million tons | +28% vs 2019).
Overall, freight traffic was up 11.8% compared to pre-pandemic (2019) volumes.
[NEWS] @ACI_EUROPE today released its annual air traffic report for 2024, revealing that Europe has finally exceeded pre-Covid levels in passenger traffic.
— ACI EUROPE (@ACI_EUROPE) February 12, 2025
This chart reveals the top 10 airports by passenger volume.
Find out more in our Press Release:https://t.co/vSZcNKEAZt pic.twitter.com/jvgRWxOYeR
Samarkand stands out among Megas and Large to Medium airports
While the Majors (over 40 million passengers) fought it out for raw volume, post-pandemic growth among “Mega” airports ((25 to 40 million passengers) was in fact better, averaging an increase of 4%. Athens, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen and Munich took the top three spots. All three were around 12% or more up year-on-year and were between 13% and 24.5% up in 2019.
The top performing Large and Medium airports saw their performances driven by tourism and VFR. Worth a mention in this tranche is Samarkandwhich beat its 2023 numbers by 36.6% and was a whopping 186% up on 2019.
The battle for Low Cost bases
The Low Cost Carrier bases across Europe are also interesting to take a look at, especially given the noise recently caused by Ryanair’s criticism of “excessive” airport charges. The best-performing continental Low Cost Carrier airports were Beauvais (+15.7% vs. 2013 | +64.6% vs. 2019), Memmingen (+14.8% vs. 2023 | +88.6% vs. 2019), Charleroi (+11.8% vs. 2023 | +27.7% vs. 2019) and Bergamo (+8.6% vs. 2023 | +25.2% vs. 2019).
