Recent data published by Aci Europe indicate a significant recovery in travel by airplanes, with European airports seeing an annual increase of over 5% in the Summer months of July and August, exceeding pre-pandemic numbers. In detail, passenger traffic recorded a 5.6% increase in August compared to the previous year, following an already solid +5.1% in July.

The ACI Europe report highlights that international traffic was the main driver of this growth, with a 7.1% jump year-on-year, while domestic flights showed a slight decline of 0.2%.

Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe, commented on these results by highlighting the persistent challenges in the sector, despite the positive traffic results which saw airports serve a total of 251.5 million passengers in August.

Among the countries that showed the largest annual increases were Poland, Greece, Portugal and Italy, all with double-digit growth compared to the same month in 2019. In contrast, States such as Finland, Sweden and Germany recorded declines, influenced both by the course of the war in Ukraine and by structural changes in the airline industry. These statistics suggest a robust recovery of the European airport sector, even in the face of geopolitical and market challenges.