Last year, passenger numbers at European airports rose by 7.4% compared with 2023. This is 1.8% higher than in 2019, the reference year which marks the last year before the covid pandemic and the peak in global air traffic. ACI Europe explains this development by the rise in international passenger traffic (+8.8% compared with 2023), while the increase in domestic traffic was lower (+2.5%). Domestic traffic represents flights that take off and land within a single country. On this point, despite a slight increase, the level remains 6.3% lower than in 2019.

“European airports welcomed 200m extra passengers last year, and many of them surpassed their previous all-time records. This was achieved despite a sharp rise in ticket prices, a supply chain under pressure, sluggish economic growth and geopolitical tensions. It says a lot about how consumers are now prioritising their experiences and travel in particular,” commented ACI Europe’s managing director, Olivier Jankovec.

On the other hand, almost one in two European airports (47%) is still below its pre-covid volumes, particularly the smaller airports. Despite this positive trend in passenger numbers, ACI Europe describes a “multi-speed” recovery. The airlines that fared best were the low-cost carriers, as were the airports.

At Luxembourg’s Findel airport, passenger numbers have also increased. The Air Navigation Authority is forecasting 5.2m passengers in 2024, compared with 4.85m in 2023 and 4.41m in 2019.

“This development reflects structural changes in the aviation market, in particular a partial modal shift to rail, strong cross-border mobility within the EU single market and fast-growing demand in emerging markets outside the EU,” ACI Europe said in its report.

For 2025, ACI Europe forecasts growth in the number of passengers using European airports.

This article was originally published in .