The decrease represents the first year-on-year contraction in passenger traffic since the recovery of Europe’s air transport market began in April 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to ACI Europe, April’s performance was influenced by several
factors, including the conflict in the Middle East, the partial shift of the
Easter holiday period into March this year and industrial action in Germany.
Passenger traffic in the non-EU+ market1 declined by 7.6%, while the EU+ market2 continued to grow, recording an increase of
0.6%. Airports within the European Union alone posted growth of 1.4%.
Among non-EU+ markets, airports in Israel recorded the steepest decline,
with passenger traffic falling by 73.4%. Airports in Türkiye saw traffic
decrease by 5.1%, while Georgia and Azerbaijan reported declines of 16.3% and
12.9%, respectively.
In contrast, several smaller non-EU+ markets continued to expand strongly,
including North Macedonia (+30.6%), Albania (+25.3%) and Moldova (+24.6%).
Among the largest EU+ aviation markets, Spain recorded the strongest growth at 3.7%, followed by Italy at 2.2%. Germany experienced the largest decline at 8.5%, while passenger volumes also decreased in the United Kingdom (-2.1%) and France (-0.9%).
The strongest growth rates within the EU+ market were reported by Slovakia
(+125.2%), Slovenia (+14.6%), Malta (+13.5%), Estonia (+12.1%) and Poland
(+8.3%). Cyprus recorded a decline of 16.1%, while Iceland fell by 11.7%,
Austria by 7.4% and Switzerland by 6.1%.
Olivier Jankovec, Director
General of ACI Europe, said: “April marks a clear inflection point for European air traffic.
While we were already seeing a normalisation of passenger traffic growth after
the strong post-pandemic bounce back, geopolitical instability – most notably
the war in the Middle East – is now further weighing on growth and exposing
significant differences in performance across markets. The encouraging news is
that demand generally remains strong, airlines capacity adjustments limited and
fears over potential jet fuel shortages have eased.”
He added: “However, our most immediate concern remains
the severe disruptions and hardship imposed upon passengers by border control
processes linked to the Schengen Entry/Exit System. Unless authorities are
allowed to introduce greater flexibility, including fully suspending the system
where operationally necessary, disruptions for passengers will intensify over
the coming weeks and months. For many airports and airlines, the situation
risks becoming unsustainable. It is puzzling that at EU level nobody seems to
really care about that, and the massive damage this is inflicting upon Europe’s
reputation as a welcoming and efficient destination.”
Among Europe’s largest3 airports, Barcelona (+4.1%), Madrid (+3.3%) and Amsterdam Schiphol
(+2.7%) were the only major hubs to record passenger growth in April.
Munich (-16.4%) and Frankfurt (-11.0%) posted the sharpest declines,
largely due to seven days of industrial action during the month. Passenger
traffic also fell at Istanbul Airport (-6.8%), Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (-3.4%),
London Gatwick (-8.8%) and London Heathrow (-5.3%). Rome Fiumicino (-0.6%) and
Paris Charles de Gaulle (0.0%) remained broadly stable.
Medium-sized airports recorded growth of 2.1%, while small airports grew by
5.5%, outperforming larger hubs. According to ACI Europe, these airports were
less exposed to the effects of the Middle East conflict and benefited from
continued capacity deployment by low-cost carriers and demand shifting towards
short- and medium-haul travel.
Despite this growth, small airports remained 27.7% below their 2019
passenger levels, reflecting structural changes in the market and ongoing
financial challenges.
The strongest-performing airports by category included Barcelona, Madrid and Amsterdam among major airports; Málaga, Zurich and Copenhagen among mega airports; Tirana, Charleroi and Malta among large airports; Bratislava, Skopje and Chișinău among medium airports; and Stockholm Bromma, Bucharest Băneasa and Hatay among small airports.
1 Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
2 EU, EEA, Switzerland and the UK.
3 Airports over 40 million passengers.
Tags: Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe
