Image by Josch13 via Pixabay, showing Düsseldorf Airport.
European airport trade body ACI Europe has released its air traffic report covering the month of June, Q225, and the first half of 2025 respectively, which showed major markets growing at the slowest pace. with large and minor airports experiencing the highest rate of passenger growth.
Passenger traffic across the European airport network increased by +4.5% in H1 compared with the same period last year, with the pace of growth remaining steady over both Q1 and Q2 — respectively +4.3% and +4.6%.
International passenger traffic accounted for all of the gains (+5.7%) as domestic traffic essentially remained flat (+0.2%). Overall, passenger volumes in H1 stood at +5.1% above their pre-pandemic (H1 2019) levels.
Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe, said: “The positive performance of passenger traffic since the start of the year reflects the continued and strong resilience of demand in the context of significant supply pressures, operational disruptions, increasing geopolitical and geoeconomic tensions and renewed macro-economic uncertainties.
All this brings renewed competitive pressures and traffic risks for airports, with much more volatile and unpredictable market dynamics where growth is no longer a given. The Summer season keeps delivering for now – let’s see how the following months will be shaping up. ”
EU & Rest of Europe
Airports in the EU+ area saw passenger volumes increasing by +4.3% in H1 compared to the same period last year, with significant divergences in performance between those located South-East and those located North-West of the bloc.
The EU+ area is comprised of the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
The EU+ area is comprised of the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Photo by tarok ate via Pixabay.
Accordingly, the best performances came from airports in Slovakia (+19.2%), Poland (+14.9%), Hungary (+14.2%), Malta (+11.7%) and Cyprus (+10.8%) — while airports in Sweden (-0.9%), Estonia (+0.2%), Iceland (+1.4%) and Luxembourg (+1.4%) posted the weakest results.
Amongst the largest EU+ markets, airports in Italy (+5.7%) registered the highest increase in passenger traffic, along with those in Spain (+4.5%). Conversely, airports in France (+3.6%), the UK and Germany (both at +2.3%) underperformed the EU+ average.
Meanwhile, airports in the rest of Europe (EU, EEA, Switzerland and the UK) recorded a +5.6% increase in passenger traffic with performance gaps even more significant, reflecting the impact of both geopolitics and contrasted markets dynamics.
This resulted in airports in Moldova (+49.2%), Bosnia & Herzegovina (+31.1%), Israel (+27%), Kosovo (+16.6%) and Georgia (+13.7%) posting impressive results — while those in the larger market of Türkiye (+1.2%) and Azerbaijan (+1.6%) saw modest volume growth.
Airport market segments
Major airports (over 40m pax) grew at the slowest pace in H1 with their passenger volumes increasing by +3.3% over the same period last year:
Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (+11.5%) and Rome Fiumicino (+6.5%) stood out, posting the best performances.
London Heathrow remained the busiest European airport, welcoming 39.9m pax — a modest +0.2% increase over the H1 2024.
The British hub was followed by Istanbul (39.1m tax | +2.5%), Paris-CDG (34.6 million passengers | +4.3%), Amsterdam Schiphol (32.7 million passengers | +3%) and Madrid (32.6 million passengers | +3%).
Mega airports (25-40 million passengers) saw passenger volumes increasing by +4%, with the best performances coming from Milan Malpensa (+11.4%), Athens and Copenhagen (both at +7.6%).
Large airports (10-25m pax) and Medium airports (1-10m pax) were the segments achieving the highest growth — both at +5.4%, largely driven by selective Low Cost Carrier expansion and the continued strength of leisure and VFR3 demand:
Apart from Tel Aviv (+27%) bouncing back, Krakow (+18.7%), Budapest (+15%) and Warsaw (+13.2%) stood out amongst the Large airports. Photo: Ben Gurionn Airport by Chris Hoare, circa 2012.
Meanwhile, Trieste (+31.8%), Bournemouth (+24.9%), Kaunas (+20.6%), Poznan (+20%), Varna (+19.1%), Genoa (+18%), Girona (+17.1%), Memmingen (+16.4%), Wroclaw (+15.6%), Bari (+15.7%) and Cork (+14.5%) were amongst the fastest growing Medium airports.
Small airports (less than 1 million passengers) also saw a positive momentum with their passenger traffic increasing by +5.1%. However, these airports remain the only ones not having recovered their pre-pandemic (H1) passenger levels (-32.9%).
Airport Group Data
In June 2025, Majors, Mega, Large, Medium, and Small airports reported an average increase of +2.4%, +3.4%, +2.4%, +4.2% and +5.2% respectively, as compared to June 2024.
The airports that reported the most dynamic growth in passenger traffic versus June 2024 are as follows:
Majors: Istanbul SAW (+12.2%), Munich MUC (+6.1%), Barcelona BCN (+4.8%), Rome FCO (+3.0%), Frankfurt FRA (+2.8%).
Mega airports: Milan MXP (+9.5%), Copenhagen CPH (+9.4%), Paris ORY (+7%), Dublin DUB (+5.8%), Athens ATH (+4.6%).
Large airports: Krakow KRK (+18.1%), Warsaw WAW (+13.3%), Almaty ALA (+9.6%), Budapest BUD (+9.1%), Valencia VLC (+9.1%).
Medium airports: Chișinău RMO (+39.7%), Bournemouth BOH (+29%), Varna VAR (+25%), Trieste TRS (+25%), Genoa GOA (+18.8%).
Small airports: Bucharest BBU (+403.4%), Syros Island JSY (+112.8%), Karlstad KSD (+97.5%), Gyumri LWN (+66.9%), Volos VOL (+51.1%).
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