In July, European airports welcomed 97% of the passengers compared to the same month in 2019, before the pandemic. This indicates "consumer confidence" despite inflation. Although this quasi-return to the pre-COVID situation is significant during the summer peak period, there are still strong disparities depending on the country, as noted by the European branch of Airports Council International (ACI Europe) in its monthly statistics delivery. The organization has observed an acceleration of recovery, with airports in the continent seeing 94.1% of the volume of travelers from four years earlier in June. Additionally, European airport traffic in July increased by 12.8% year-on-year.
According to Olivier Jankovec, the managing director of ACI Europe, the latest figures for European airport traffic indicate that people give more importance to leisure travel or for family and friendship reasons. This is particularly noteworthy given rising living costs and record air ticket increases. Jankovec cautioned, however, that the recovery remains unevenly distributed.
Iceland, Croatia, and Greece are ahead
Driven by strong demand for transatlantic travel, Icelandic airports saw 116.2% of passengers in the same month of 2019 pass in July, followed by Croatian (115.7%) and Greek (114.8%) facilities.
Finland (69%) is among the countries with the lowest percentage of flights passing through its airspace due to its proximity to Russian airspace, which has been closed to European companies since the Ukraine war began. Slovenia (72.6%) and Bulgaria (77.1%) are among the bottom countries.
German airports have not yet fully recovered from their pre-health crisis levels of passenger traffic, operating at only 80.8% of July 2019. In comparison, other large air markets such as France and the UK performed better at 93.4% and 95.3% of passengers, respectively, four years ago. Turkey, on the other hand, has exceeded its pre-crisis levels by operating at 106.5%.
In July 2019, Istanbul Airport saw a significant increase in travelers, with a growth of 116.5%. It was ranked second in the ACI Europe ranking, behind London-Heathrow but ahead of Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam Schiphol. The recovery was beneficial for airports that host low-cost airlines, such as Memmingen (southern Germany, 160.1%), Beauvais (north of Paris, 146.8%), and Charleroi (Belgium, 110.4%), according to ACI Europe.