Europe's traffic numbers have finally topped pre-COVID levels in H1 2024.
© Heathrow Airport Limited
It has taken a few frustrating years, but European air passenger numbers have—for the first time since COVID19 arrived—exceeded pre-pandemic traffic levels over a six-month period.
According to the latest data from airport trade body ACI Europe, passenger traffic across the European airport network increased by 9% in the first half of 2024, compared to the same period last year.
This solid growth meant that H1 passenger volumes were 0.4% above H1 2019 levels, at long last confirming a full recovery from the COVID19 pandemic for the airport industry. However, it also underlines the capacity—and growth—that has been lost over the past five years which cannot be clawed back.
While Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe, welcomed the fact that the airport industry “has now turned a corner on the pandemic” he was also cautious of what might lie ahead, given the disconnected way this recovery has taken place.
The DG said: “Beyond these headline figures, the European airport market has become extremely fragmented in terms of traffic performance—with only 53% of airports having actually fully recovered their pre-pandemic passenger volumes in June.”
“This reflects structural changes in both demand and supply—with leisure and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) passengers and ultra-low-cost carriers, along with Turkish Airlines, very much driving growth. This also reflects the dynamism of aviation markets in parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia,” he added.
Meanwhile, the DG noted that geopolitics was having an ongoing impact on specific markets “for better or worse” depending on their location.
The top five European airports (in order LHR, IST, CDG, AMS, MAD) welcomed a total of 174.6 million passengers in H1, an increase of 8% over the same period last year, and 2% above their pre-pandemic (H1 2019) levels.
Turkish Airlines has been a major growth driver in Europe.
© Alireza Akhlaghi / Unsplash
The largest continental ultra-low-cost carriers’ bases also kept outperforming year-over-year in H1. Paris Beauvais was up by 18.8%, Memmingen (16.5%), Charleroi (10.8%), and Bergamo (10%). They were also well above pre-pandemic traffic.
Conversely, small airports (1,000 to one million passengers per year) had the weakest performance in the first half with an average 5.7% increase and remaining almost 36% below their H1 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
A closer look at the traffic data from the airports group, released on Tuesday, also showed a slowdown in growth over the first six months of the year. The first quarter powered through at 10.2% but slowed slightly to 8% in Q2. Third-quarter data will be revealing as it will indicate just how dynamic the summer vacation season will be.
Overall in H1, international traffic lifted the pace at 10.3%, well ahead of domestic traffic which grew by 4.2%.
Looking ahead to Q3 and the summer season, Jankovec was hopeful. He commented: “We are in for our best summer ever in terms of passenger traffic, even though the unprecedented global IT outage earlier this month combined with recurrent air traffic management capacity shortages and aircraft delivery delays are all taking a toll on airport traffic.
“What comes next will largely depend on whether demand remains resilient and sustained when the autumn comes. That will in turn depend on how currently mixed macro-economic signals end up playing out—from falling inflation and stable unemployment rates to decreases in industrial production and economic sentiment.”
He added that the readiness of the repeatedly postponed Schengen States Entry Exit System (EES) now scheduled for November “keeps us awake at night.” Given the delays to date the DG’s main concern is that if the system is not fully ready “we might be in for major disruptions.”