Latest News
HomeAssociationsWidening gap in air traffic growth between EU and non-EU airports
Air traffic

Widening gap in air traffic growth between EU and non-EU airports

Reviewing the result in more detail, passenger traffic in the EU grew by a healthy +6.2%, driven in particular by double digit growth in Greece, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, Romania, Hungary and Lithuania. Meanwhile, in a continued reversal of fortune, Non-EU airports posted a much lower rate of passenger traffic growth (+1.3%).

RUSSELS – European airport trade body, ACI Europe released its traffic report for February. The report is the only air transport report which includes all types of civil aviation passenger flights: full service, low cost and charter. It reveals that passenger traffic at Europe’s airports grew by an average +5.0% during the month.

Reviewing the result in more detail, passenger traffic in the EU grew by a healthy +6.2%, driven in particular by double digit growth in Greece, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, Romania, Hungary and Lithuania. Meanwhile, in a continued reversal of fortune, Non-EU airports posted a much lower rate of passenger traffic growth (+1.3%), mainly due to traffic losses in Ukraine and Russia as well as the impact of severe weather conditions in parts of Turkey.

Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe said “EU passenger traffic keeps outperforming weak economic growth, building upon last year’s dynamic trend. The outlook is now getting even brighter, as lower oil prices, the ECB’s Quantitative Easing policy and improving consumer confidence should all help further support demand for air travel in the coming months. Conversely, Russian airports are generally seeing a sharp decrease in passenger traffic – with the country entering recession this year for the first time since 2009 and international sanctions taking their toll.  This situation is also affecting freight traffic across Europe, as well as the passenger traffic performance of other European airports that are particularly exposed to Russian demand.”

During the month of February, airports welcoming more than 25 million passengers per year (Group 1), airports welcoming between 10 and 25 million passengers (Group 2), airports welcoming between 5 and 10 million passengers (Group 3) and airports welcoming less than 5 million passengers per year (Group 4) reported an average adjustment +2.9%, +6.8%, +6.3% and +6.8%.

The airports which reported the highest increases in passenger traffic are as follows:

  • Group 1: Madrid (+12.0%), Rome FCO (+9.1%), London LGW (+7.1%), Antalya (+5.4%), Amsterdam (+4.9%)
  • Group 2: Athens (+24.7%), London STN (+24.6%), Brussels (+18.5%), Lisbon (+17.9%) and Dublin (+16.7%)
  • Group 3: Milan BGY (+18.2%), Porto (+17.7%), Bucharest OTP (+15.8%), Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (+15.0%) and Glasgow (+13.8%)
  • Group 4: Chania (+94.4%), Mikonos (+46.4%), Ostrava (+40.2%), Santorini/Thira JTR (+37.8%) and Volgograd (+35.7%)

The ‘ACI Europe Airport Traffic Report – February 2015’ includes 209 airports in total representing more than 88% of European air passenger traffic.

ACI Europe Traffic Report Feb 2015

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.

28/03/2024
27/03/2024
26/03/2024
25/03/2024
22/03/2024