ACI Europe: Air Traffic Finally Above Pre-pandemic Levels in First Half of 2024

A full recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic for the airport industry was confirmed by the air traffic report released on Wednesday by European airport trade body ACI Europe.

Covering the month of June, the second quarter (Q2) of 2024 and the first half (H1) of the year, the report showed that passenger traffic across the European airport network increased by 9 percent in H1 compared to the same period last year, with the pace of growth in Q2 (+8 percent) remaining very dynamic – although easing somewhat compared to Q1 (+10.2 percent).

According to the report, international traffic kept being the main growth driver in H1 (+10.3 percent), expanding at more than twice the rate of domestic traffic (+4.2 percent).

This brought January-June (H1) 2024 passenger volumes at +0.4 percent above H1 2019 levels, according to ACI Europe.

“As overall passenger traffic finally made it above 2019 levels over a full 6-month period, our industry has now turned the corner on the pandemic,” ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec said, adding that beyond “headline figures”, the European airport market has become extremely fragmented in terms of traffic performance.

According to Jankovec, only 53 percent of airports have actually fully recovered their pre-pandemic passenger volumes in June.

Persistent gaps in performance amongst national markets

Airports in the EU+ market (EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and the UK) saw passenger traffic increase by 9.5 percent in H1 compared to the same period last year – coming right at their pre-pandemic levels (0 percent).

In June, the best passenger traffic performances in the EU+ market when compared to pre-pandemic (June 2019) came from airports relying predominantly on leisure & VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives)-driven demand: Poland (+24.5 percent), Greece (+23.9 percent), Malta (+19.1 percent), Luxembourg (+16.9 percent), Portugal (+14.2 percent) and Croatia (+13.6 percent). Conversely, airports in Finland (-26.4 percent), Slovenia (-21.5 percent), Bulgaria (-20.5 percent) and Sweden (-19.4 percent) remained the farthest from a full recovery.

Amongst the largest EU+ markets, airports in Italy (+13.1 percent) and Spain (+8 percent) posted the best results, followed by those in the UK (-1.1 percent), France (-4 percent) and Germany (-17 percent).

Airports in the rest of Europe posted an increase of +5.8 percent in H1 compared to the same period last year – resulting in volumes standing at +2.9 percent above pre-pandemic.

In June, the best passenger performances in the rest of Europe when compared to pre-pandemic (June 2019) came from airports in Albania (+243 percent) buoyed by Ultra-Low Cost Carriers’ expansion, as well as from those in Uzbekistan (+202 percent), Armenia (+78 percent) and Kazakhstan (+67 percent).

Airports in the major market of Türkiye (+9.2percent) also stood well above their pre-pandemic levels – while those in Israel (-33.4 percent) continued to report traffic losses due to instability in the region.

The top 5 European airports – London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Istanbul, Amsterdam Schiphol and Madrid – welcomed a total of 174.6 million passengers in H1 – an increase of 8 percent over the same period last year and 2 percent above their pre-pandemic (H1 2019) levels.

Amongst other airports known as “Major” (with more than 40 million passengers per annum) and “Mega” (with 25 to 40 million passengers per annum), the best performances in H1 came from Rome Fiumicino which saw passenger volumes expanding by an impressive 26 percent compared to the same period last year (+9.8 percent vs H1 2019), Antalya (+19.8 percent vs. H1 2023 | +7.1 percent vs. H1 2019), Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (+16.6 percent vs. H1 2023 | +18.5% vs. H1 2019) and Athens International Airport (+16.1 percent vs. H1 2023 | +24.5% vs. H1 2019).

Medium airports (with 1 to 10 million passengers per annum.) posted the best performance in H1, increasing their passenger traffic by 10.8 percent when compared to the same period last year and largely exceeding their pre-pandemic levels (+9.4 percent).

Conversely, small airports (with 1,000 to 1 million passengers per annum) posted the weakest performance in H1 with a 5.7 percent increase in passenger traffic compared to the same period last year and remaining -35.7 percent below their pre-pandemic levels (H1 2019).

Peak summer months of Q3 and beyond

Photo Source: ACI World

ACI Europe expects this summer to be “the best ever” in terms of passenger traffic.

“What comes next will largely depend on whether demand remains resilient and sustained when the autumn comes. That will in turn depend on how currently mixed macro-economic signals end up playing out – from falling inflation and stable unemployment rates to decreases in industrial production and economic sentiment,” ACI Europe’s director general said.

“For now, what certainly keeps us awake at night is whether Schengen States will effectively be ready for the start of operation of the bloc’s Entry Exit System planned for next November. If not, we might be in for major disruptions,” Jankovec added.