European airports show resilience with surge in passenger traffic
March 13, 2025
Airport trade body Airports Council International (ACI) Europe has reported a 6.9% year-on-year increase in passenger traffic across its European airport network for January 2025.
Several countries achieved double-digit passenger growth, including Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Czechia, Poland, Denmark and Greece.
However, not all markets kept pace. Germany, Ireland, Sweden and Slovenia all underperformed the industry average, with growth hindered by economic challenges, internal market struggles and aviation taxes. Ireland in particular continues to feel the impact of the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, while France is also expected to experience constraints due to aviation tax policies which are deterring passenger travel.
Double-digit growth
Non-EU airports saw even stronger growth with a 11.4% year-on-year increase in traffic. Israel, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Uzbekistan, Kosovo, Georgia, Albania and Azerbaijan all posted significant gains. However, while Israel saw an impressive 77.7% surge in traffic compared with January 2024, its traffic volumes remain well below pre-pandemic passenger levels, as its recovery is closely linked to the ceasefire.
The rise in traffic across ACI’s European network was primarily driven by international passengers (+8.3%) while domestic travel saw a modest increase (+2.7%) but remains 12.5% down on pre-pandemic (2019) levels.
Major airport performance
Among Europe’s largest airports (those handling over 40 million passengers) Istanbul, London Heathrow and Madrid led the way, with all airports in this category collectively growing their passenger traffic by 7%.
For airports in the 25 million to 40 million passenger category, Milan Malpensa, Athens, Copenhagen, Oslo, Manchester and Lisbon all recorded strong gains. Lisbon stood out welcoming 2.4 million passengers, a 22.1% increase above pre-pandemic levels.
For airports catering for one million to 25 million passengers those serving tourism destinations in Southern Europe and those relying on Visiting Friends and Relatives demand in the East performed exceptionally well. Tel Aviv, Chisinau, Sarajevo, Trieste, Girona, Poznan, Budapest, Krakow, Prague and Izmir all saw double-digit growth.
Regionals still below pre-pandemic levels
Regional and small airports (those with under one million passengers) also achieved an impressive 19.7% growth in passenger traffic when compared to the same month last year. However, the airports in this category continue to struggle against pre-pandemic benchmarks, with traffic still 31.9% below 2019 levels.
The steady overall recovery for airports underscores the resilience of European airports, despite ongoing economic and regulatory challenges.
