ACI: Strong H1 Passenger Traffic Places Athens Airport in the Lead in Europe

Passengers at Athens International Airport. Photo © Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

Athens International Airport (AIA) was among those in Europe reporting the highest increases in passenger traffic in the first half of the year (H1) compared to the same period in pre-Covid 2019, according to data released this week by the Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe).

More specifically, in its group, AIA reported a 7.3 percent increase having fully recovered its pre-pandemic passenger volumes in January-June boosted by leisure/VFR and strong transatlantic demand. Other airports include those of Lisbon (+8.7 percent), Palma de Mallorca (+3.8 percent), Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (+1.6 percent), and Dublin (+1.5 percent).

Additionally, Rhodes International Airport was among Europe’s smaller airports reporting the highest increases in passenger traffic in H1 over the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, up by 15.5 percent.

Rhodes International Airport. Photo © Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

At the same time, airports in Greece reported the best passenger traffic performance in June in the EU market marking a 14.2 percent rise. The airports of Iceland (+9.3 percent), Luxembourg (+8.7 percent), Portugal (+8.1 percent) and Poland (+6.3 percent), followed.

On the downside, airports in Finland (-32.2 percent), Slovenia (-31.9 percent), Germany (-21.7 percent), Bulgaria (-20.5 percent) and Sweden (-18.8 percent) remained well below their pre-pandemic levels.

Looking at the Top 5 European airports (Istanbul, Turkey; Heathrow, London, UK; Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, France; Schiphol, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, Spain) in H1, passenger traffic was still down by 8.9 percent compared to H1 2019 thus underperforming the European average.

Passenger traffic across the European airport network

Meanwhile, in Europe, passenger traffic increased by 28.3 percent in H1 over the same period in 2022 with international traffic up by 32.2 percent and domestic traffic by 16.6 percent. Compared to 2019 levels, passenger volumes were still down by 7.7 percent in H1.

“Passenger traffic has rebounded over the past six months, getting ever closer to a full recovery,” said ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec, adding that there were significant variations in performance across national markets, and volumes still remain below their pre-pandemic levels for more than half (52 percent) of Europe’s airports.

“So far, demand has remained extremely resilient in the face of lasting inflationary pressures and record increases in airfares since the beginning of the year.

Looking ahead, Jankovec sees significant downside risks and much uncertainty.