Passenger numbers at European airports exceed pre-Covid-19 levels

The number of passengers in the airports Europeans in the first half of 2024 exceeded 2019 levels, for the first time since the pandemic covid-19announced the main association in the sector.

Between January and June, a 9% year-on-year increase in passenger numberswhich caused traffic on these platforms to exceed the volumes of the same period five years ago by 0.4%, ACI Europe said in a statement, considering that “the sector has already turned the page” since the health crisis.

ACI Europe statistics go beyond the strict boundaries of political Europe, as they include Türkiye, Israel, Russia and even Central Asiafederating 500 airports from 55 countries.

But even in the European UnionWith Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and the United Kingdomtraffic recovered to 2019 levels during the first half of the year, the association noted.

“Air traffic has finally surpassed pre-pandemic levels in the first half of 2024,” said ACI Europe, which warned, however, that the recovery is “extremely fragmented” as it has left almost as many winners as losers among airports and airlines.

Since the pandemic, Leisure and family travel are booming, boosting activity for low-cost airlines and holiday destinations, while other transport platforms, more geared towards internal or business travel, are not doing so well.

Thus, in June, the number of passengers at Polish airports was 24.5% higher than in the same month in 2019. Other countries in green are: Greece (+23.9%), malt (+19.1%), Portugal (+14.2%) and Croatia (+13.6%).

In contrast, Finland (-26.4%), Slovenia (-21.5%), Bulgaria (-20.5%) and Sweden (-19.4%) “are the furthest from a full recovery,” ACI Europe noted.