Passenger traffic at European airports returned to pre-COVID-19 levels in the first half of 2024, marking a significant recovery for the aviation sector, according to a report from Airports Council International (ACI) Europe released on Wednesday.
The report highlights a nine percent increase in passenger traffic during the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2023. This growth has resulted in a slight overall increase of 0.4 percent above the levels recorded in the first half of 2019, just before the pandemic began.
Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, noted that the recovery signals a turning point for the industry. “As overall passenger traffic finally exceeded 2019 levels for a full six-month period, our industry has now turned the corner on the pandemic,” Jankovec said.
International travel led the recovery with a 10.3 percent increase, while domestic traffic grew by 4.2 percent. The figures indicate a robust return to normalcy for the airport sector, according to ACI Europe.
However, the recovery remains uneven across Europe. Despite the overall increase, nearly half of Europe’s airports have yet to return to pre-pandemic passenger volumes. As of June 2024, only 53 percent of airports had fully recovered to their pre-COVID-19 levels.
The surge in leisure travel and family visits has driven growth, favoring low-cost airlines and holiday destinations over traditional carriers and business travel hubs. Albania experienced the most dramatic increase, with passenger volumes rising by 243 percent compared to the same period in 2019. Greece, Malta, and Portugal also reported strong growth.
Conversely, air travel remains down in some major European markets. German airports have seen a 17 percent decrease from pre-pandemic levels, while France and Britain have experienced declines of four percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. In the UK, increased competition from train services and a shift towards virtual meetings have impacted domestic and business travel.
London Heathrow continues to be the busiest airport in Europe, handling 39.8 million passengers in the first half of the year, followed by Istanbul Airport and Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle.
