In July, the highest 5 European airports noticed a 4.3% decline in passenger visitors in comparison with pre-COVID-19 ranges recorded in July 2019.
BRUSSELS – The ACI Europe airport visitors report reveals that passenger visitors for the height Summer month of July got here closest ever to a full restoration to pre-COVID-19 ranges.
Passenger visitors throughout the European airport community in July stood at simply -3% in comparison with July 2019 – an additional enchancment over the previous month (June stood at -5.9% in comparison with the identical month in 2019). When in comparison with July 2022, passenger visitors grew by +12.8%.
Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe stated: “These headline figures are symptomatic of a shift from material to experiential consumption, with people valuing travel for leisure and for meeting friends and relatives across Europe and beyond more than ever. The consumer confidence resilience and continued momentum in the traffic recovery is even more remarkable considering the cost-of-living crisis and record increases in air fares.”
He cautioned: “However, performance variations between national and individual airport markets have also become a fixture of our recovery – with 51% of Europe’s airports still below their pre-pandemic passenger traffic volumes. These performance variations reflect a mix of factors – from the impact of the war in Ukraine to the impressive but selective capacity expansion of Ultra-Low-Cost Carriers and relative retrenchment of Network Carriers, as well as some domestic traffic shifting to other transport modes.”
Non-EU+ market restoration achived
The EU+ market1 noticed passenger visitors standing at -4.3% in July towards pre-pandemic ranges (July 2019) – and rising by +12.7% when in comparison with the identical month final 12 months.
The finest performances got here from markets predominantly counting on inbound tourism and/or transatlantic visitors, with airports in Iceland (+16.2%), Croatia (+15.7%), Greece (+14.8%), Portugal (+10.5%), Luxembourg (+10.5%), Poland (+7.1%), Malta (+6.3%), Cyprus (+3%), Italy (+2.3%), Spain (+1.3%) and Ireland (+0.6%) all exceeding their pre-pandemic ranges.
At the opposite finish of the spectrum, airports in Finland (-31%), Slovenia (-27.4%), Bulgaria (-22.9%), Germany (-19.2%) and Sweden (-17.9%) remained the farthest from a full restoration. While German airports posted the worst passenger visitors efficiency amongst bigger markets, airports within the UK (-4.7%) made additional progress in the direction of their full restoration, adopted by these in France (-6.6%).
Meanwhile, airports within the remainder of Europe2 achieved a full passenger visitors restoration in July, exceeding their pre-pandemic (July 2019) visitors ranges by +3.7% – regardless of the lack of all air visitors for Ukrainian airports. When in comparison with July final 12 months, volumes in the remainder of Europe elevated by +13.4%.
The most spectacular performances within the non-EU+ market got here from airports capitalising on Ultra-Low-Cost Carriers’ enlargement – resembling these in Albania (+116.6%) and Kosovo (+41.5%), in addition to airports benefitting from the shift in demand to/from Russia away from the EU+ market – together with these in Uzbekistan (+72.6%), Armenia (+70.4%) and Kazakhstan (+66.4%).
The main market of Türkiye (+6.5%) additionally surpassed their pre-pandemic passenger visitors ranges.
Majors nonetheless beneath pre-pandemic ranges
Passenger visitors on the Majors (high 5 European airports) in July remained –4.3% in comparison with pre-pandemic ranges (July 2019). This was attributable to much less dynamic hub provider capability deployment and the sluggish return of demand from China. Compared to July 2022, passenger volumes nonetheless elevated by +15.1%, thanks notably to sturdy transatlantic demand.
While London-Heathrow (-1.2%) asserted its place because the busiest European airport and got here near reaching a full restoration, Istanbul (+16.5%) remained the one Major exceeding its pre-pandemic passenger volumes – and ranked second.
The Turkish hub was adopted by Paris-CDG (-11.5%), Frankfurt (-13.1%) and Amsterdam-Schiphol (-10.6%).
Amongst different giant airports (Group 13), the most effective July performances when in comparison with pre-pandemic (July 2019) ranges have been registered by: Athens (+10.6%), Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen (+8.9%), Lisbon (+5.2%), Palma de Mallorca (+4.1%), Paris-Orly (+3.1%), London-Stansted (+1.8%), Antalya (+1.4%) and Dublin (+0%).
Ultra-LCC bases and regional/smaller airports outperforming
As in earlier months, a number of Ultra-Low-Cost airport bases saved exceeding their pre-pandemic passenger visitors volumes in July: Memmingen (+60.1%), Beauvais (+46.8%), Charleroi (+10.4%) and Bergamo (+10%)
Similarly, regional and smaller airports4 on common noticed passenger visitors exceeding pre-pandemic ranges by +6.2%. Those serving well-liked vacationer locations and/counting on LCC visitors posted the most effective outcomes – with some having fun with exponential progress, resembling Zadar (+290.9%), Perugia (+189.6%), Kutaisi (+122.9%), Funchal (+42.7%), Chania (+32.1%), Santorini (+31.9%) and Kerkyra (+31%).
Data by airport teams
During the month of July, airports welcoming greater than 25 million passengers per 12 months (Group 1), airports welcoming between 10 and 25 million passengers (Group 2), airports welcoming between 5 and 10 million passengers (Group 3) and airports welcoming lower than 5 million passengers per 12 months (Group 4) reported a median efficiency of -5.7%, -8.8%, +6.9% and +5.5% when in comparison with pre-pandemic visitors ranges (July 2019).
The airports that reported the very best will increase in passenger visitors for July 2023 when put next with July 2019 are as follows:
- Group 1: Istanbul IST (+16.5%), Athens (+10.6%), Istanbul SAW (+8.9%), Lisbon (+5.2%) and Palma de Mallorca (+4.1%).
- Group 2: Naples (+22.5%), Porto (+16.8%), Milan BGY (+10%), Málaga (+9.2%) and Marseille (+8%).
- Group 3: Sochi (+116.6%), Almaty (+66.4%), Palermo (+26.2%), Belgrade (+22.7%), and Valencia (+20.7%)
- Group 4: Tirana (+116.6%), Yerevan (+70.4%), Memmingen (+60.1%), Beauvais (+46.8%) and Funchal (+42.7%).
1 EU, EEA, Switzerland and the UK.
2 Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
3 Airports with greater than 25 million passengers each year (2019).
4 Airports with greater than 25 million passengers each year (2019).
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his tasks embody enterprise improvement and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term alternatives.