Europe records first drop in air traffic after pandemic in April/ TIA increases by 25.3%

2026-06-05 15:10:00, Aktualitet CNA

Europe records first drop in air traffic after pandemic in April/ TIA increases

For the first time since the recovery of European air transport after the Covid-19 pandemic, passenger traffic has fallen compared to the same period last year.

The number of passengers at the European airport network fell by 0.7% in April 2026, compared to the same month last year, according to the European airports organization ACI EUROPE.

The group says that, although the decline is small, it "marks an important moment."

April's performance reflects a combination of factors, including the conflict in the Middle East, which mainly affected the non-EU+ market, the partial relocation of the Easter holidays to March this year, as well as strikes that hit the German market hard.

The EU+ market continues to grow, while regional and national differences are deepening

While passenger traffic in the non-EU+ market fell by 7.6%, the EU+ market continued to expand, recording a growth of 0.6%. EU airports alone grew by 1.4%.

Within the non-EU+ market, airports in Israel (-73.4%) suffered significant losses, while airports in the main market of Turkey also recorded a decline in passenger traffic (-5.1%). There were also declines in Georgia (-16.3%) and Azerbaijan (-12.9%), as a result of their exposure to developments in the Middle East region.

Meanwhile, several smaller markets in the west of the non-EU+ area continued to record impressive growth: North Macedonia (+30.6%), Albania (+25.3%) and Moldova (+24.6%).

Among the largest EU+ markets, airports in Spain (+3.7%) and Italy (+2.2%) had the best results, while those in Germany (-8.5%), the United Kingdom (-2.1%) and France (-0.9%) recorded declines in passenger numbers.

The best performances in the EU+ were recorded by airports in Slovakia (+125.2%), Slovenia (+14.6%), Estonia (+12.1%), Malta (+13.5%) and Poland (+8.3%).

On the other hand, airports in Cyprus (-16.1%) and Iceland (-11.7%) had the largest declines, followed by Austria (-7.4%) and Switzerland (-6.1%).

"April marks a clear turning point for European air traffic. While we were already seeing a normalization of passenger traffic growth after the strong recovery after the pandemic, geopolitical instability, especially the war in the Middle East, is further weighing on growth and highlighting large differences in performance between markets," commented Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI EUROPE.

Europe's largest and smallest airports were most affected

Overall, “major” airports (-3.5%), along with “mega” (-1%) and “large” airports (+0.1%), were the segments most affected by the conflict in the Middle East, as they concentrate the bulk of Europe's air connections with this region.

Among the major airports, only Barcelona (+4.1%), Madrid (+3.3%) and Amsterdam-Schiphol (+2.7%) saw passenger traffic increase in April.

Munich (-16.4%) and Frankfurt (-11%) recorded the strongest declines, mainly due to no less than seven strike days during the month.

Istanbul Airport (-6.8%) and Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (-3.4%) — which are usually among the best performers — saw declines in April. Traffic also fell at London Gatwick (-8.8%) and London Heathrow (-5.34%). Meanwhile, Rome-Fiumicino (-0.6%) and Paris-CDG (0.0%) remained almost unchanged.

In contrast, medium (+2.1%) and small (+5.5%) airports, whose networks are mainly within Europe, remained largely unaffected. This was due to the fact that low-cost airlines did not reduce capacity, as well as due to a shift in demand from long-haul to medium- and short-haul.

However, compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, small airports continued to perform the worst, at -27.7%. This reflects structural changes in market conditions and major challenges to their financial sustainability.

Goods and aircraft movements

Cargo traffic at European airports fell by 5.3% during April, while the number of aircraft movements marked a slight decline of 0.8%.

Data by airport groups

In April, airports that handle more than 40 million passengers per year (Majors), those with 25–40 million passengers (Mega), with 10–25 million passengers (Large), with 1–10 million passengers (Medium) and with less than 1 million passengers (Small) reported average changes of -3.5%, -1%, +0.1%, +2.1% and +5.5%, respectively, compared to a year earlier.

The airports that reported the most dynamic growth in passenger traffic compared to April 2025 are as follows:

Majors: Barcelona BCN (+4.1%), Madrid MAD (+3.3%), Amsterdam AMS (+2.7%), Paris CDG (0%), Rome FCO (-0.6%).

Mega airports: Málaga AGP (+9.5%), Zurich ZRH (+6.1%), Copenhagen CPH (+5.8%), London STN (+3.1%), Palma de Mallorca PMI (+2.6%).

Large airports: Tirana TIA (+25.3%), Charleroi CRL (+16.2%), Malta MLA (+13.5%), Milan LIN (+13.3%), Kraków KRK (+13%).

Medium airports: Bratislava BTS (+144.7%), Skopje SKP (+31.1%), A Coruña LCG (+25.4%), Chi?in?u RMO (+24.6%), Timi?oara TSR (+21.5%).

Small airports: Stockholm BMA (+699.8%), Bucharest BBU (+210.6%), Hatay HTY (+165.8%), Córdoba ODB (+135.1%), Friedrichshafen FDH (+89.1%)./ Monitor