In this column, we bring you passenger results reported by airport operators across the world in 2022, as the travel industry’s recovery continues apace. Check back on this page for all the latest 2022 data.
7 February
INDIA. Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru served 27.5 million passengers in 2022, recovering 82% of the total recorded in pre-pandemic 2019. This included an 85% recovery of domestic and 65% of international passengers.
The result was bolstered by record passenger numbers for December, the 3.13 million passengers served surpassing the mark set in December 2019 (3.06 million).
Bangalore International Airport Limited Chief Strategy & Development Officer Satyaki Raghunath said: “The COVID years were very challenging for us but despite that, we are encouraged by the steady recovery in passenger traffic. Passenger comfort and seamless travel continue to be a priority and in addition to this our cargo partnerships have contributed to our business growth.”
He added: “CY2022 also marks a significant milestone for us as we have significantly increased our operational capacity with the inauguration of the new Terminal 2 (T2) at BLR Airport. We believe that with the operationalisation of T2, we will be even better positioned to serve as the natural gateway to South and Central India.”
3 February
CANADA. The Calgary Airport Authority has reported that Calgary International Airport (pictured below) welcomed 14.5 million passengers in 2022. This represents an 81% recovery of the airport’s traffic from pre-pandemic 2019.
The CAA also operates Springbank Airport, which is located in the Rocky View County community of Springbank, Alberta, an area to the west of Calgary. It served a total of 129,674 passengers in 2022 and recouped 84% of its 2019 traffic.
CAA VP Commercial, Strategy & CFO Rob Palmer said: “YYC is back to connecting people and cargo to places. We are thrilled by last year’s numbers for both our airports and expect to see close to 3 million more guests in 2023 at YYC. We look forward for our industry to regain stability in the next few years.”
30 January
MALAYSIA/TÜRKIYE. Here are some encouraging recovery numbers from Southeast Asia, where Malaysia Airports recorded a total of 52.7 million passengers across 2022 for its local network of airports, which include Kuala Lumpur International (pictured below).
Domestic passengers reached 36.2 million passengers for the year, equivalent to 69.6% of the 2019 total.
Malaysia Airports’ asset in Türkiye, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, served 31.2 million passengers in 2022, reaching 86.7% of the 2019 level.
Total international passenger movements for the year surpassed the 2019 level by +10.4%, while domestic passengers reached 71.2% of the 2019 number.
26 January
UK. Edinburgh Airport has reported strong 2022 passenger statistics, signalling a strong recovery compared with both the previous year and its busiest year on record, which was pre-pandemic 2019.
A total of 11,261,873 people travelled through the airport in 2022, up from just over 3 million in 2021 (+371%) and 76% of the 2019 number (14.7 million).
Edinburgh Airport Chief Executive Gordon Dewar said: “We are encouraged by the ongoing recovery in passenger numbers in 2022, which we hope in turn reflects more economic activity across the country, as inbound visitors to Scotland provide a much-needed shot in the arm for our tourism and hospitality industries.”
23 January
IRELAND. An encouraging 2022 result has been reported for Ireland’s Shannon Airport, which served over 1.51 million passengers last year. That’s a +300% increase on 2021 figures, and an 88% recovery of 2019 passenger levels.
Shannon Airport Group CEO Mary Considine said: “The accelerated pace of the rebound in air travel from Shannon has exceeded our expectations and shows the pent-up desire for international travel following the lifting of pandemic travel restrictions.”
19 January
USA. The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) has reported that passenger traffic served at Orlando International Airport hit almost 50 million on a 12-month rolling basis to November 2022.
The exact number was 49,703,780 passengers, a +29.8 rise against the comparable period from December 2020 to November 2021.
The total is just short of the 50.6 million passengers served in pre-pandemic 2019.
“We have far exceeded anyone’s expectations for traffic growth at Orlando International Airport,” said GOAA CEO Kevin Thibault. “On a rolling 12-month basis, MCO welcomed 49.7 million passengers as of November. If you break that down even further, it is about two days-worth of traffic shy of 50 million.”
AUSTRIA/MALTA/SLOVAKIA. Flughafen Wien Group has reported serving 30.1 million passengers across its airport portfolio in 2022. The total encompassed passengers at Vienna Airport (23.7 million), Malta Airport (5.85 million) and Kosice Airport (539,749).
The combined passenger count for the three airports last year was +127.6% measured against 2021 but -25.2% against pre-pandemic 2019. For Vienna Airport, the respective numbers were +129.3 and -23.9%.
Vienna served 1.9 million passengers in December, with the gap narrowing to -22.1% below the comparable level reported in the pre-crisis month of December 2019.
Flughafen Wien Joint CEO Julian Jäger, said: “Aviation was back again in the year 2022. Passenger volume at Vienna Airport more than doubled and is now at about 75% of the pre-crisis level. Particularly in the travel-intensive summer season, we displayed a very high quality of flight operations thanks to the extensive commitment of our employees.”
16 January
HONG KONG, CHINA.Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) has reported the full year 2022 traffic figures for Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). The travel hub served 5.7 million passengers, a year-on-year increase of +318.4%, but the number is fractionally under just 8% of the pre-pandemic 2019 figure (71.5 million).
A spectacular growth in passenger numbers will be expected in 2023 after travel restrictions were lifted, following on from a much-improved result in December when the 1.6 million passengers recorded represented a surge of +938.7% compared with the same month of 2021.
AAHK CEO Fred Lam said: “The airport endured another challenging year in 2022 as the impact of the pandemic continued. Nevertheless, we saw the light at the end of the tunnel when the HKSAR Government relaxed travel restrictions and quarantine requirements for inbound travellers in the second half of the year.
“Passenger traffic at HKIA started to pick up in the last quarter of 2022. We also have a good start of 2023 with the resumption of normal travel with the Mainland. We are confident that passenger traffic will continue to recover at HKIA.”
INTERNATIONAL. More 2022 passenger performances for key European airports include: Amsterdam Schiphol 52.5 million (73% of 2019 traffic); Barcelona 41.64 million (79%); Brussels 18.93 million (72%); Hamburg 11.1 million (64%); Stockholm Arlanda 18 million (75%); and Stuttgart 6.9 million (54%).
In China, Guangzhou Airport served 26.1 million passengers in 2022, 35% of 2019 traffic.
Source: Momberger Airport Information.
IRELAND.Some 28.1 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport in 2022, a +231% increase on 2021 activity and an 85% recovery of 2019 levels.
The gap on pre-pandemic numbers closed further in the final quarter of the year, when the airport served 7.1 million passengers – the equivalent to 96% of numbers in the same period of 2019.
Dublin Airport operator daa’s new CEO Kenny Jacobs said: “Following two years of Covid disruption, 2022 was the year in which international travel came back very strong.
“When you consider that passenger numbers during the first two months of 2022 were very low due to uncertainty around the Omicron variant, the recovery in passenger numbers from March onwards was way beyond the expectations of even the most optimistic of travel forecasters.”
UK.MAG – which owns and operates the UK airports of Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands – has reported a strong passenger performance for 2022. Its three airports combined served just short of 50 million passengers across the year, a gain of +254.4% against the 2021 total.
The momentum of recovery was underlined in December, when the airports served a combined 3.7 million passengers. That equates to just under 90% of the passenger number recorded in the same month of 2019.
Manchester Airport accounted for 23,369,700 of the MAG passenger total for 2022, a year-on-year gain of +283.2%
Manchester Airport Managing Director Chris Woodroofe said: “We have made significant progress in recent months and it was pleasing to see that reflected in our operational statistics for December. We are now nearing 90% of pre-pandemic levels of traffic, which bodes well for our continued recovery.”
UK.London Luton Airport served over 13.1 million passengers in 2022. The figure was bolstered by the presence of 1.1 million passengers in December, including more than 12,000 on Christmas Day, the highest on record.
According to the airport, four out of five passengers to rated their experience at the airport as either very good or excellent.
London Luton Airport CEO Alberto Martin said: “It has been an extremely exciting 12 months for London Luton Airport. Our teams have worked incredibly hard to deliver a consistently smooth and friendly passenger experience and this was reflected in the overwhelmingly positive customer satisfaction results that were achieved over 2022.”
SPAIN.The airports in Spanish operator Aena’s network closed 2022 with a total of 243,681,775 passengers, representing an 88.5% recovery in passenger traffic compared to pre-pandemic 2019.
In December, the airports were close to full recovery as they served nearly 18 million passengers, 98.1% of the 2019 number.
Of the total number of passengers recorded last year, 242,881,309 were commercial passengers, of which 82,319,704 travelled on domestic flights (-3.8% less than in 2019), and 160,561,605 travelled on international flights (-15%).
LATVIA.Riga Airport welcomed 5.38 million passengers in 2022, an increase of almost +129% compared to 2021. The number passed 80% of the pre-pandemic 2019 result.
This year, the airport expects to serve 6.3 million passengers based on current flight schedules, which would be an increase of +16% compared to 2022.
SWEDEN.Nearly 28 million passengers flew via Swedavia’s ten Swedish airports in 2022, which corresponds to an increase of over +130 per cent against 2021. The total stood at about 70% the pre-pandemic 2019 level.
More than 20 million people flew internationally across the year, mainly to and from European destinations. In December alone, there were nearly 2.3 million passengers, an increase of over +40% compared to 2021 and nearly 80% of the volume of 2019.
GERMANY. At Munich Airport passenger numbers rose by 19 million year-on-year to reach a total of 31.6 million. The airport has thus regained about two-thirds of its record-breaking pre-pandemic result from 2019.
The number of aircraft movements nearly doubled compared with 2021 to more than 285,000 take-offs and landings. The seat load factor of the aircraft using Munich equalled the record figure of 77.5% from 2018.
Munich Airport CEO Jost Lammers said: “The gradual lifting of travel restrictions has re-awakened people’s desire to travel. This has prompted airlines to significantly expand their flight capacity. The bookings received by the airlines indicate that traffic growth at Munich Airport will continue in 2023.”
SWITZERLAND.Some 22.6 million passengers flew through Zurich Airport in 2022, more than double the number of the prior year. The figure represented 72% of the pre-pandemic level.
In the first half of the year, the number of passengers using the airport rose from a relatively low 15,000 a day on some dates to as many as 90,000 on peak days.
The airport operator Flughafen Zürich noted that the 2022 passenger total exceeded the forecast made at the beginning of the year.
GERMANY.Passenger numbers across 2022 at Berlin Brandenburg Airport almost doubled against the prior year result to 19.85 million. The figure in 2021 was 9.95 million.
Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg CEO Aletta von Massenbach said: “Together with our partners at BER, we were prepared for the rapid increase in passenger traffic and responded by opening Terminal 2 and offering more digital and automated services. The positive feedback from our guests encourages us to continue on this path in 2023.”
JORDAN. Queen Alia International Airport operator Airport International Group has reported welcoming 7,837,501 passengers in 2022. The number marks a +71.9% increase and a -12.2% decline against 2021 and 2019 figures, respectively.
Airport International Group CEO Nicolas Claude said: “2022 has been a remarkable year. Despite continuing to deal with the aftermath of the pandemic, we have made great progress in shaping a customer-centric airport that exudes Jordanian hospitality, feels like home to our passengers and is environmentally-friendly.”
13 January
UK. VINCI Airports has revealed that London Gatwick Airport served 32.8 million passengers in 2022, which represents 71% of the pre-pandemic (2019) number. The result is a huge +520% improvement on the previous year, when the airport welcomed a relatively low 6.3 million passengers.
The airport operator noted that Gatwick Airport’s strong recovery is further evidenced by its increased long-haul connectivity, with the airport now serving 42 global routes – 68% of the number flown pre-pandemic.
The airport’s long-haul network was boosted by Air India announcing yesterday that it will fly to four new destinations – Goa, Ahmedabad, Amritsar and Kochi (Cochin).
Delta Air Lines has also returned to Gatwick offering daily flights to New York, while British Airways will operate new routes to Vancouver, Georgetown and Las Vegas this summer.
There were 213,952 total aircraft movements at London Gatwick in 2022, which is 76% of the number in 2019 (281,000). Some 52,000 aircraft arrived or departed the airport in 2021.
London Gatwick Airport Chief Commercial Officer Jonathan Pollard said: “Today’s figures are extremely positive and clearly show London Gatwick’s continued strong recovery. We still have some way to go but we’re looking forward to welcoming even more passengers this year, including those flying to our growing choice of long-haul destinations.”
Read November 2022’s Passenger Traffic Monitor column here.
Read October 2022’s Passenger Traffic Monitor column here.
Read September 2022’s Passenger Traffic Monitor column here.
Read August 2022’s Passenger Traffic Monitor column here.
Read July 2022’s Passenger Traffic Monitor column here.
