EUROPE. Passenger traffic at European airports increased +6.1% in October – the best monthly performance since March.
ACI Europe said the result was reflective of a continued traffic dynamic in the EU and the return of growth in the non-EU bloc.
Airports in the EU saw passenger traffic increase by an average of +7.1%, with double digit growth in Southern & Eastern Europe – specifically Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain.
Passenger traffic at non-EU airports grew + 2.7%. ACI Europe said this was a “welcome development” following nearly six consecutive months of traffic losses. “This is the result of a combination of a much improved traffic performance for Russian airports, a traffic recovery gathering pace for airports in Turkey as well as sustained growth in other countries such as Ukraine and Georgia – not to mention Iceland where passenger traffic increased by nearly +50%,” the organisation said.
ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec commented: “October saw passenger traffic picking up further – with the negative impact of the terror attacks that took place earlier in the year and of the failed coup in Turkey gradually receding. Passenger dynamics reflected a generally improved macro-economic environment, especially in the EU – as well as low oil prices.
“However, the prospect of oil price hikes and the risk of decreasing business and consumer confidence on the back on heightened geopolitical instability may well confront us with very different traffic dynamics in the coming months.”
Source (all charts): ACI Europe
During the month of October, airports welcoming more than 25 million passengers per year (Group 1); airports welcoming between 10 and 25 million passengers (Group 2); airports welcoming between 5 and 10 million passengers (Group 3); and airports welcoming less than 5 million passengers per year (Group 4) reported average adjustments of +2.6%, +8.3%, +10.8% and +8.5%.
The airports which reported the highest increases in passenger traffic during October 2016 (compared with October 2015) are as follows:
Group 1: Barcelona (+10.9%), Dublin (+9.3%), Amsterdam (+8.7%), Zurich (+8.5%), Copenhagen (+7.7%)
Group 2: Warsaw WAW (+21.0%), Malaga (+19.6%), Alicante (+19.5%), Lisbon (+17.1%) and Palma De Mallorca (+16.9%)
Group 3: Larnaca (+40.0%), Berlin SXF (+36.9%), Ibiza (+33.3%), Heraklion (+30.3%) and Bucharest OTP (+21.7%)
Group 4: Oradea (+4,909.3%), Bucharest BBU (+884.2%), Grenoble (+272.2%), Chambery (+198.4%) and Iasi (+164.0%)
