Specifically: Malta (+33.3%), Slovenia (+30.9%) and the Czech Republic (+29.4%) recorded the highest increases, while the lowest ones were recorded in Estonia (+7.9%), Greece (+9.6%) and Lithuania (+12.3%)

The total number of passengers travelling by airplane in the EU in 2023 was 973 million, an increase of 19.3% compared to 2022 (816 million). The data refers to all EU countries. Specifically, Malta (+33.3%), Slovenia (+30.9%) and the Czech Republic (+29.4%) recorded the highest increases, while the lowest increases were recorded in Estonia (+7.9%), Greece (+9.6%) and Lithuania (+12.3%). This information is taken from air transport data published by Eurostat.

However, total air freight and mail in the EU decreased by 5.2% in 2023 compared to 2022. Domestic, intra-EU and extra-EU transport all recorded declines, by -4.1%, -5.0% and -5.3% respectively. At national level, the decline was recorded in Slovakia (-38.6%), followed by Estonia (-22.6%) and Luxembourg (-18.0%), while the highest increase was recorded in Spain (+17.9%), Malta (+17.6%) and Finland (+9.0%).

In 2023, the top 5 EU airports remained the same as in 2022, but all recorded significant increases. Paris- "Charles de Gaulle" recorded 67.4 million passengers transported (+17.3%), Amsterdam-Schiphol 61.9 million passengers (+17.9%), Madrid-Barajas 60.1 million (+20.4%), Frankfurt-Main 59.3 million (+21.5%) and Barcelona "El Prat" recorded 49.8 million (+20.6%).

Rome-Fiumicino ranked 6th with 40.3 million passengers transported, but recorded the highest increase among the top 10 airports (+38.2%). Paris-Orly dropped from 8th to 10th place, recording the smallest percentage increase in the number of passengers transported in 2023 compared to 2022 (+10.6%).

Eurostat specifies that the numbers reflect passengers uniquely counted for each flight, excluding direct transfers.