Passenger traffic at Europe’s airports grew by +7.0% compared with August 2013. More specifically, passenger growth at airports in the EU reported a robust result of +6.6% year-on-year. However passenger traffic at non-EU airports in Europe, still had the edge, reporting a rise of +8.2% over the same period.
BRUSSELS – European airport trade body, ACI Europe, released its traffic report for the month of August. The report is the only air transport report which includes the full range of civil aviation passenger flights: network, low cost, charter and others.
Passenger traffic at Europe’s airports grew by +7.0% compared with August 2013. More specifically, passenger growth at airports in the EU reported a robust result of +6.6% year-on-year. However passenger traffic at non-EU airports in Europe (including Iceland, Israel, Norway, Russia, Switzerland & Turkey), still had the edge, reporting a rise of +8.2% over the same period.
Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI Europe commented “August saw a remarkable surge in air traffic at Europe’s airports, further outperforming wider economic conditions. A key factor has been airlines adding more capacity, as evidenced by the increase in aircraft movements – which on a monthly basis was the strongest since 2011. Most of it was driven by Low Cost Carriers, which are reinforcing their presence in primary markets – occasionally at the expense of secondary and smaller regional airports.”
He added “EU airports generally fared extremely well, while non-EU airport traffic was affected by geopolitical conditions with a slump in passenger traffic at Ukrainian airports and, to a lesser extent, in Israel. It is worth noting that the increase in freight traffic is entirely due to EU airports, as it was completely flat at non-EU airports – mainly due to a sharp decrease at Russian airports as a result of the EU sanctions imposed on Russia.”
Adding a note of caution, Jankovec concluded “With the Eurozone stalled in its economic recovery and no end in sight for the current geopolitical tensions, there are serious doubts as to the ability of European air traffic to keep defying economic gravity in the coming months.”
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 +6.9%, +8.3%, +3.8% & +8.4%.
The airports which reported the highest increases in passenger traffic are as follows:
- Group 1: Moscow DME (+13.2%), Moscow SVO (+11.2%), Istanbul IST (+11.0%) Rome FCO (+9.4%) & Barcelona (+8.7%)
- Group 2: Istanbul SAW (+25.6%), Athens (+22.8%), Hamburg (+18.8%), Brussels (+18.7%) & Lisbon (+15.2%)
- Group 3: Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (+16.4%), Naples (+16.2%), Larnaca (+13.9%), Lanzarote (+12.1%), Berlin SXF (+11.4%)
- Group 4: Chambery (+99.0%), Chisinau KIV (+35.2%), Mykonos (+32.8%), Kiruna (+31.7%), Belgrade (+30.6%)
The ‘ACI Europe Airport Traffic Report – August 2014’ includes 208 airports in total representing approximately more than 88% of European air passenger traffic.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
