EUROPE. Passenger traffic at Europe’s airports grew +9% year-on-year in the third quarter, trade organisation ACI Europe has reported.
It is a slight slowdown compared to the +10.6% growth in the second quarter.
In the non-EU market, passenger volumes increased +15% – up from +13.1% in the previous quarter. ACI Europe said the main drivers of growth were a now complete recovery from last year’s downturn for most Turkish airports, as well as buoyant growth at many airports across Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Iceland.
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Passenger traffic at EU airports increased +7.4%. This was down from the +10.0% seen in the second quarter, which ACI Europe said partly reflected catch-up growth from 2016 when terrorism dampened demand. In line with trends established earlier in the year, countries to the East of the EU bloc achieved double-digit growth along with Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta and Portugal.
Europe’s five busiest airports saw passenger traffic grow +5.8% in the third quarter. Istanbul Atatürk (+11.7%) led the way, followed by Amsterdam Schiphol (+6.1%), Paris Charles de Gaulle (+5.7%), Frankfurt (+4.9%) and London Heathrow (+1.7%).
“We are now experiencing a synchronised air traffic growth dynamic in the EU and non-EU markets,” commented ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec. “This is propelling airports across Europe towards record traffic results – with EU airports in particular having expanded passenger traffic by more than +20% over the past 3 years. That growth also puts a lot of pressure on airport facilities and staff – with operational efficiency and quality becoming a daily challenge for many airports.”
Jankovec noted that while economic conditions continued to defy geopolitical risks, air traffic would continue to grow – spurred by the increasing reliance of businesses and consumers on air connectivity.
“The fact that economic sentiment in the EU has just reached historic highs is encouraging – even though recent spikes in oil prices are a worry,” he said. “For now, disruptions to air traffic in Europe are coming from airlines having gone bust, being partially taken over or massively cancelling flights and reducing capacity due to operating issues. Expect more impact from that on traffic figures in the coming weeks.”
During the third quarter, airports welcoming more than 25 million passengers per year (Group 1); 10-25 million (Group 2); 5-10 million (Group 3); and under 5 million (Group 4) reported average adjustments of +5.5%, +13.3%, +10.0% and +10.9% respectively.
The airports that reported the highest increases were:
Group 1: Moscow Sheremetyevo (+19.5%), Istanbul Atatürk (+11.7%), Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (+7.8%), Manchester (+7.6%) and Oslo (+7.1%)
Group 2: Antalya (+56.5%), Ankara (+33.8%), Warsaw Chopin (24.2%), St Petersburg (+21.8%) and Prague (+16.8%)
Group 3: Naples (+27.5%), Keflavik (+18.8%), Kiev (+18.8%), Toulouse (+18.7%) and Catania (+16.2%)
Group 4: Grenoble (+3,470.3%), Bucharest Aurel Vlaicu (+287.9%), Nis (+180%), Kaunas (+166.5%) and Foggia (+148.8%)
During September, airports welcoming more than 25 million passengers per year (Group 1); 10-25 million (Group 2); 5-10 million (Group 3); and under 5 million (Group 4) reported average adjustments of +5.2%, +12.0%, +10.4% and +11.3% respectively.
The airports that reported the highest increases were:
Group 1: Moscow Sheremetyevo (+15.7%), Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (+7.9%), Manchester (+7.5%), Istanbul Atatürk (+7.3%) and Moscow Domodedovo (+7.2%)
Group 2: Antalya (+49.8%), Ankara (+29.2%), Warsaw Chopin (24%), St Petersburg (+20.5%) and Izmir (+16.4%)
Group 3: Naples (+27.9%), Keflavik (+23.9%), Kiev (+19.5%), Catania (+17.5%) and Faro (+17.4%)
Group 4: Grenoble (+2,058.1%), Foggia (+463.6%), Bucharest (+247.7%), Klagenfurt (+191.6%) and Craiova (+134%)
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