European airport trade body, ACI Europe released its traffic results for 2011, a year in which freight traffic growth began promisingly, before going negative in the second half of the year. By contrast, passenger traffic at European airports remained more robust throughout 2011. The overall passenger traffic saw an increase of +7.3% compared with 2010 while freight traffic all weathered some rough months to growth of just +1.4% in the same comparison. When adjusted to compensate for the impact of the 2010 volcanic ash crisis and exceptionally harsh winter conditions, 2011 passenger and freight traffic respectively grew by +5.2% and +0.6%. The overall figure for movements at European airports was +4.1% in 2011 when compared with 2010.

Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI Europe said “With Europe’s airports welcoming more than 100 million additional passengers in 2011 compared with the previous year, air traffic has once again shown its resilience in the face of a difficult economic climate. This performance hides a significant divide between EU and non-EU airports, with the latter growing twice as much. However, it is worth noting that in almost all EU markets, the growth in passenger traffic strongly outperformed GDP growth, allowing many airports to post record passenger volumes. This is clear evidence of the dynamism of airports as vital economic assets. Airports are the ones that deliver external trade and the associated growth opportunities to their communities – all too relevant at the moment.”

Commenting on the 2012 outlook, Jankovec added “The odds are that 2012 will be a different story. Economies have come to a stand-still in many parts of Europe with the sovereign debt crisis, which is also having a ripple effect on growth prospects elsewhere. This will affect demand for air transport. At the same time, fuel costs and national aviation taxes are going to limit airlines’ willingness to add capacity – a serious concern, especially for regional airports. Moreover, the cost of buying emissions permits under the EU ETS has started to be reflected in airlines’ fares. This will also weigh on their network decisions, as evidenced by AirAsia X’s recent move out of Europe.”

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 2011 increase of +7.6%, +7.5%, +6.2% and +7.6% respectively when compared with the Full Year figures for 2010. The same comparison of Full Year 2011 with Full Year 2009 demonstrates an average increase of +11.5%, +13.4%, +10.5% and +11.2% respectively.

In terms of traffic results for the month of December 2011, the overall passenger traffic saw an increase of +8.3% compared with December 2010 while freight traffic among European airports remained flat (0.0%) in the same comparison. The overall figure for movements at European airports was +4.4% in December 2011 when compared with 2010. These figures however are inflated by the impact of the operational disruptions which occurred due to exceptionally harsh winter conditions in December 2010.

Examples of airports that experienced the highest increases in passenger traffic per group, when comparing December 2011 with December 2010:
GROUP 1 Airports - Istanbul IST (+22.3%), London LGW (+19.7%), Barcelona BCN (+16.9%), London LHR (+14.7%) & Moscow DME (+13.7%)
GROUP 2 Airports - Helsinki HEL (+26.6%), Moscow SVO (+23.8%), Antalya (+21.8%), Berlin TXL (+6.3%) & Geneva (+16.9%)
GROUP 3 Airports - Edinburgh (+25.0%), Tenerife TFS (+17.2%), Kiev (+16.6%), Glasgow GLA (+16.4%) & Venice (+14.2%)
GROUP 4 Airports - Bourgas (+270.2%), Monaco (+65.7%), Vilnius (+64.3%), Tallinn (+38.0%) & Tivat (+34.5%)

The 'ACI Europe Airport Traffic Report – December 2011, Q4 and Full Year 2011' includes 168 airports in total, representing approximately 88% of European air passenger traffic.