Air passenger transport in the EU27

In 2012, 827 million passengers travelled by air in the EU27, a rise of 0.7% compared with 2011. Looking back over a longer period, air passenger transport has increased by 10.0% compared with 2009, the low point following the financial crisis, but only by 3.6% compared with 2008.

These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Largest increases in air passenger transport in Lithuania and Estonia, largest decreases in Slovenia and Slovakia

In 2012, the highest numbers of air passengers were recorded in the United Kingdom (203 million, +0.8% compared with 2011), Germany (179 mn, +1.9%), Spain (160 mn, -3.3%), France (135 mn, +2.7%) and Italy (116 mn, -0.1%). On average across the EU27, the number of air passengers rose by 0.7% between 2011 and 2012, with the largest increases in Lithuania (+17.6%) and Estonia (+15.5%), and the highest decreases in Slovenia
(-14.1%) and Slovakia (-13.5%).

London/Heathrow remains busiest passenger airport
London/Heathrow remained the EU’s busiest passenger airport, with 70 million passengers handled, up by 0.9% compared with 2011. Paris/Charles de Gaulle (61 mn, +1.0%) and Frankfurt/Main (57 mn, +1.8%) were the second and third busiest airports, followed by Amsterdam/Schiphol (51 mn, +2.6%) and Madrid/Barajas (45 mn, -8.9%). Twenty of the top 30 airports registered increases in the number of passengers handled in 2012, with the highest rises in Berlin/Tegel and Nice/Cote d’Azur (both +7.4%), Wien/Schwechat (+5.2%) and Manchester (+4.5%). The largest falls were observed in Athens (-10.2%), followed by Madrid/Barajas (-8.9%), Praha/Ruzyne (-8.1%) and Gran Canaria (-6.6%).

London/Heathrow (42 million) handled the most extra-EU passengers, Amsterdam/Schiphol (28 mn) the most intra-EU passengers and Madrid/Barajas (14 mn) the most national passengers.

Air passenger transport, 2012

* The Intra/Extra EU data refer to EU27, since Croatia, which joined the EU on 1 July 2013, was not a Member State at the time to which this data refer (2012).
** Double counting is excluded in the intra-EU and total aggregates by taking into consideration only departure declarations. The EU total excludes data for Croatia.
*** Data concern only Keflavik airport
: Data not available
– Not applicable
0 Less than 500 passengers recorded

Top airports in the EU in terms of total passengers carried
1000’s of passengers in 2012 and % growth 2012/2011

* The 30 busiest airports in 2012 in terms of total passengers carried and the top airport in each of the 13 Member States which have no airport among the top 30.
** The Intra/Extra EU data refer to EU27, since Croatia, which joined the EU on 1 July 2013, was not a Member State at the time to which this data refer (2012).
: Data not available
– Not applicable
0 Less than 500 passengers recorded

Air passenger figures have been calculated excluding double counting of national and intra-EU passenger transport, i.e. not counting the same passengers twice, once reported by the origin airport as departures and once by the partner airport as arrivals. Since the EU aggregate excludes double counting on intra-EU traffic, Member States’ figures do not add up to the EU aggregate. For example, a person flying from Paris to London will be counted in France as a ‘departure passenger’ and in the United Kingdom as an ‘arrival passenger’ but only once at EU level.

Air transport at airports in the Member States with a total transport of more than 150 000 passengers carried in 2012 is covered.

Theodore Koumelis

Co-Founder & Managing Director - Travel Media Applications | Website | + Posts

Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.

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