Passenger air traffic is up 4.5% year-on-year for the first half of 2025, according to the latest report from European airport trade body ACI EUROPE. Growth was steady over the two quarters, the data shows: up 4.3% in the first quarter and slightly more, 4.6% in the second.
However, international passenger traffic “accounted for all of the gains (+5.7%),” ACI pointed out, with domestic traffic stagnating at +0.2%. Overall, passenger volumes over the six months were up 5.1% compared to pre-pandemic levels in the same period of 2019.
Market headwinds and northwest-southeast divide
Noting that the growth has occurred despite a range of market challenges, Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI EUROPE, said the figures reflect “the continued and strong resilience of demand in the context of significant supply pressures, operational disruptions, increasing geopolitical and geoeconomic tensions and renewed macro-economic uncertainties.”
In the so-called EU+ area (which includes European Union nations plus Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan) airports saw growth of 4.3% but there were “significant divergences” between them, particularly between the southeast and the northwest of the bloc.
In the northwest, Estonia, Iceland, and Luxembourg all saw the weakest growth, reaching only 1.4% or less, while Sweden’s air passenger traffic was in fact down nearly 1% (0.9%).
The southeast came off best with Slovakia’s passenger traffic up 19.2%, Hungary up 14.2%, Malta 11.7% and Cyprus 10.8%. Also in the south, and among the largest EU+ markets, airports in Italy registered the highest increase (+5.7%) in passenger traffic, alongside Spain (+4.5%), whose tourism market has boomed almost to breaking point since COVID-19.
Large markets see modest growth amid geopolitical changes
In contrast, France, traditionally the most-visited country in the world, was up just +3.6%, underperforming the EU+ average, accompanied by the UK and Germany (both at +2.3%. Large markets in Türkiye (+1.2%) and Azerbaijan (+1.6%) also saw what the ACI calls “modest volume growth.”
The importance of geopolitics and market dynamics is clear, looking at airports in Moldova (+49.2%), where there has been increased demand from Ukrainian citizens, as well as an expansion of routes and airlines, amid Moldovan ambitions to join the European Union.
Bosnia & Herzegovina (+31.1%) has seen rerouted flights due to the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as enhanced connectivity, which Kosovo (+16.6%) and Georgia (+13.7%) have also enjoyed. Israel is up 27% as flights have gradually returned with the end of bombing in Gaza and the loosening of the grip of hostilities between Israel and Iran.
Growth at smaller airports outpaces major hubs
While London’s Heathrow remains the busiest airport, volumes at the major hubs (which handle upwards of 40 million passengers) actually “grew at the slowest pace” (+3.3%). ACI notes. Mega airports (25 to 40 million passengers) fared better, up 4%, with Milan Malpensa (+11.4%), Athens, and Copenhagen (both at +7.6%) posting the best results.
Thanks to strong leisure and friends-and-family-driven travel, as well as the expansion of low-cost carriers, which tend to select the next segments down, large and medium airports saw the highest growth, both at +5.4%. Krakow (+18.7%) saw the most growth among the large airports, while Trieste’s growth (+31.8%) was nearly 7% ahead of its nearest medium-sized competitor, Bournemouth (+24.9%).
Small airports (less than 1 million passengers) were not far behind, averaging an increase of passenger traffic of 5.1%. However, ACI highlights that this segment is the only one not to have recovered pre-pandemic passenger levels (-32.9%) for the first half of the year.
