In September this year, passenger traffic at Europe’s airport grew by +3.9%. More specifically, passenger growth at airports in the EU reported a good result of +3.8% year-on-year. At non-EU airports in Europe (including Iceland, Norway, Russia, Switzerland & Turkey), passenger traffic grew by +4.3% over the same period.
BRUSSELS – European airport trade body, ACI Europe released its traffic report for September. The report is the only air transport report which includes all types of civil aviation passenger flights: network, low cost and charter.
In September this year, passenger traffic at Europe’s airport grew by +3.9%. More specifically, passenger growth at airports in the EU reported a good result of +3.8% year-on-year. At non-EU airports in Europe (including Iceland, Norway, Russia, Switzerland & Turkey), passenger traffic grew by +4.3% over the same period, almost closing the gap between EU and Non-EU performance.
Meanwhile, freight traffic reported growth of +2.9% while aircraft movements were up +2.8%.
Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI Europe commented “In September, passenger traffic growth at EU airports has generally remained dynamic, despite the massive impact of the Air France pilot strike on French airports and worrying economic indicators. A major factor for this dynamism continues to be the expansion of Low Cost Airlines in primary airport markets. Outside the EU, Ukrainian and Israeli airports continue to suffer, with traffic growth slowing down significantly in Russia and Turkey. The only bright spots are airports in Iceland, Moldova and Serbia which have all experienced growth well in excess of 20%.”
He added “While the European economic outlook continues to weaken, the present slide in oil prices could help sustain airline capacity. However, with many European airlines having hedged their fuel requirements above current market prices, this may take a while to materialise – assuming oil prices do not go back up again.”
During September, 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 +3.1%, +6.2%, +0.8% and +5.0%.
For the month of September, the airports which reported the highest increases in passenger traffic are as follows:
- GROUP 1: Istanbul IST (+11.0%), Rome FCO (+7.9%), Moscow SVO (+7.9%), Barcelona (+7.8%) and London LGW (+7.7%)
- GROUP 2: Athens (+22.9%), Istanbul SAW (+18.5%), Brussels (+17.7%) Lisbon (+16.0%) and London STD (+14.0%),
- GROUP 3: Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (+14.6%), Naples (+10.7%), Tenerife TFS (+10.5%), Ibiza (+9.5%) and Bucharest OTP (+9.0%)
- GROUP 4: Chambery CMF (+56.6%), Belgrade (+38.8%), Chisinau (+38.7%), Mineralnye Vody (+31.3%) and Santorini/Thira (+26.4%).
During Q3, 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 +4.9%, +6.9%, +2.1% and +6.6%.
The ‘ACI Europe Airport Traffic Report – September & Q3 2014’ includes 208 airports in total representing approximately more than 88% of European air passenger traffic.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
