European airline travel experienced “robust” growth in 2023, reaching 95 per cent of pre-pandemic levels despite inflationary pressures and geopolitical tension.
Latest figures from airports association ACI Europe reveal 2.3 billion travellers passed through the region’s airports in 2023, marking a 19 per cent increase on 2022, and just 5.4 per cent below pre-pandemic volumes.
However, ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec warned of “significant performance gaps” across the market, with slower recovery at hubs and larger airports.
“While many [airports] exceeded their previous yearly record in passenger volumes, 57 per cent still remained below their pre-pandemic volumes,” he said.
Geopolitical conflicts were cited as a “significant contributor” to the region’s uneven recovery, while Jankovec said pandemic-induced structural changes in the aviation market are also having a major impact.
1. London Heathrow – 28.8 per cent year-on-year increase to 79.2 million passengers and only 2.1 per cent below 2019 levels
2. Istanbul – 18.3 per cent year-on-year increase to 76 million passengers, exceeding pre-pandemic volumes by 11 per cent
3. Paris CDG – 17.3 per cent year-on-year increase to 67.4 million passengers, but 11.5 per cent below 2019 levels
4. Amsterdam Schiphol – 17.9 per cent year-on-year increase to 61.9 million passengers, but 13.7 per cent below 2019
5. Madrid – 18.9 per cent per cent year-on-year increase to 60.2 million passengers and only 2.5 per cent below pre-pandemic levels
“These structural changes include the prominence of leisure, and VFR [visiting friends and relatives] demand as well as the emergence of ‘bleisure’ demand, along with ultra low‑cost carriers selectively expanding and full service carriers retrenching on their hubs and driving consolidation,” he said.
The uptick in travel last year was largely driven by international passenger traffic (up 21 per cent year on year), with airports in the EU, EEA, Switzerland and the UK (+19 per cent) outperforming those in Eastern Europe (+16 per cent).
Among the region’s largest markets, only airports in Spain (+3 per cent) reported a full recovery. The markets next closest to making full recoveries were Italy (-2 per cent), France (-5.4 per cent) and the UK (-6.4 per cent), while airports in Germany underperformed “by a wide margin”, according to ACI.
Across the EU and EEA, airports in Portugal (+12.2 per cent), Greece (+12.1 per cent), Iceland (+6.9 per cent), Malta (+6.7 per cent) and Poland (+4.5 per cent) exceeded pre-Covid volumes. Meanwhile, those in Finland (-29.6 per cent), Slovenia (-26.2 per cent), Germany (-22.4 per cent) and Sweden (-21 per cent) remained “well behind” a full recovery.
Looking ahead at 2024, Jankovec said performance gaps among airports will likely narrow, but not close.
“The big question marks will be about supply pressures and leisure demand resilience – with the latter unlikely to keep defying macroeconomics but becoming increasingly tied to them,” he said.
“We also need to keep a close eye on operational issues, especially border control with the planned start of the Schengen Entry‑Exit System next autumn – for which many outstanding issues still need to be resolved.
“Accordingly, we are for now keeping our guidance for a +7.2 per cent increase in passenger traffic this year compared to 2023, which should lead us just +1.4 per cent above pre-pandemic volumes,” he added.
