The European airport trade body, ACI EUROPE, reports a 6.9% increase in passenger traffic across the European airport network in January 2025. International passenger traffic was a significant driver of this growth, with domestic passengers showing a more modest increase.
Passenger Traffic Increase
ACI EUROPE’s traffic report for January 2025 reveals a 6.9% year-on-year increase in passenger traffic across the European airport network. This growth aligns with the annual performance registered throughout 2024 (+7.4%) and indicates continued resilience in demand. Non-EU+ market airports outperformed the January headline figures with double-digit growth year-on-year (+11.4%), while EU+ market airports reported a more modest but dynamic growth of +6.0%.
National Market Divergence
Several countries in the EU+ market, including Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Czechia, Poland, Denmark, and Greece, saw double-digit passenger traffic growth in January over the same month last year. Conversely, markets in Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and Slovenia underperformed the industry average due to economic weakness, internal market struggles, aviation taxes, and in the case of Ireland, the ongoing impact of the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
Non-EU+ Market Performance
Israel, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Uzbekistan, Kosovo, Georgia, Albania, and Azerbaijan were the non-EU+ countries with the highest passenger traffic increases compared to January 2024. Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Russia reported notable decreases, while Ukraine’s airports remain closed for all commercial traffic due to the ongoing war.
Major Airports’ Performance
The major airports serving over 40 million passengers collectively grew their passenger traffic by 7.0% in January compared to last year. Istanbul topped the list in absolute terms, serving 6.4 million passengers. London-Heathrow and Paris-CDG follow, with 6.3 million and 5.3 million passengers, respectively.
Freight and Movements
January 2025 was a slow month for freight traffic at Europe’s airports, with a decrease of 9.1% over the same month last year. Amongst the top 10 European airports for freight traffic, only Madrid, Cologne, Liège, and London-Heathrow posted gains year-on-year. Aircraft movements were up 4.6% when compared to January 2024 but still registered a negative compared to pre-pandemic (2019) levels at -7.9%.
Data by Airport Groups
In January, different airport groups reported varying growth in passenger traffic compared to the preceding year. Airports welcoming more than 40 million passengers reported an average change of +7.0%, those welcoming between 25 and 40 million passengers reported +6.1%, between 10 and 25 million passengers reported +7.9%, between 1 and 10 million passengers reported +4.6%, and less than 1 million passengers reported +19.7% as compared to the preceding year.
