EUROPE. Passenger traffic across Europe grew +8.9% year-on-year in January, according to trade association Airports Council International (ACI) Europe.
The +10% growth recorded in the EU market was nearly twice that of the non-EU market (+5.4%), ACI Europe said.
All national markets across the EU reported positive figures, with 14 of them posting double digit growth – predominantly in the central and eastern part of the bloc. Cyprus (+25%), Luxembourg (+23.1%), Malta (+27.3%), the Netherlands (+12.1%), and Portugal (+21.7%) all performed strongly.
Source: ACI Europe
The following airports posted particularly strong growth: Sofia (+43%), Warsaw Chopin (+30.5%), Bucharest Henri Coandă (+23.8%), Tallinn (+21.8%), Prague (+21.7%), Ljubljana (+21.5%), Vilnius (+17.8%), and Budapest (+17%).
The performance of the non-EU market continued to be affected by the political situation in Turkey, ACI Europe noted. Passenger traffic in Turkey fell -6.4% in January, despite showing signs of recovery towards the end of 2016.
Russian and Ukrainian airports are in the midst of a “dynamic recovery”, ACI Europe said, as illustrated by the performance of Rostov (+38.3%), Kiev (+36.3%), St Petersburg (+29.8%), Novosibirsk (+29.7%), Ekaterinburg (+23%), and Moscow Sheremetyevo (+19.1%).
Iceland posted another growth record, with passenger traffic at Keflavik Airport up +70%. It is now welcoming more than twice the traffic volume of January 2015 (+113.8%).
“2017 is off to a rather booming start for air traffic, confirming the momentum which gradually built up in the second half of 2016,” said ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec.
“The performance of the EU market is especially impressive, with January passenger volumes up by nearly a quarter over the past two years. Coupled with solid gains in freight traffic, this primarily reflects much improved macro-economic conditions – especially in the Eurozone where unemployment is at its lowest in eight years and the economy has recorded 14 consecutive quarters of growth.”
The association said secondary hubs and medium-sized airports led the growth dynamic, as they did last year.
Among the top five European hubs, Paris Charles de Gaulle (+6.1%) and Frankfurt (+1.8%) posted “better results”, ACI noted. Amsterdam Schiphol led the way (+11.2%) while capacity constrained London Heathrow (+4.2%) made “further gains”. Istanbul Atatürk (-12.5%) suffered a sharp drop.
Jankovec concluded: “Geopolitical risks, although increasing and very much on the radar, are mainly affecting the non-EU market for now. The impact of last year’s terror attacks in the EU has receded but the consequences of Brexit have yet to reveal themselves. This could be as good as it gets.”
During January, airports welcoming over 25 million passengers per year (Group 1); between 10 and 25 million passengers (Group 2); between 5 and 10 million passengers (Group 3); and less than 5 million passengers per year (Group 4) reported average adjustments of +5.8%, +11.4%, +13.1% and +11.7%.
The airports which reported the highest increases in passenger traffic during January 2017 (compared with January 2016) are as follows:
Group 1: Moscow Sheremetyevo (+19.1%), Manchester (+18.1%), London Gatwick (+12.1%), Barcelona (+11.4%) and Amsterdam (+11.2%)
Group 2: Warsaw Chopin (+30.5%), St Petersburg (+29.8%), Berlin Schönefeld (+26.5%), Prague (+21.7%) and Lisbon (+21.6%)
Group 3: Keflavik (+70.0%), Kiev (+36.3%), Larnaca (+33.3%), Malta (+27.3%) and Faro (+25.4%)
Group 4: Bucharest Aurel Vlaicu (+309.8%), Oradea (+148.3%), Maribor and Zakynthos Island (+88.7%), Iasi and Mikonos (+83.7%) and Palanga (+81.8%)
Click on image to enlarge
