Passenger traffic across European airports decreased by 0,7% in April compared with the same month last year, marking the first year-on-year drop in passenger traffic since recovery from the pandemic began in April 2021.
The results reflect a combination of factors, including the conflict in the Middle East, the partial shift of the Easter holidays into March this year, and strikes in Germany.
According to data from ACI Europe, airports in Spain (3,7% increase) and Italy (2,2% increase) posted the highest results in April, while airports in Germany (8,5% decrease) and the UK (2,1% decrease) saw major losses.
Barcelona saw a 4,1% increase, Madrid a 3,3% increase and Amsterdam Schiphol a 2,7% increase – the only major airports seeing passenger traffic rise in April.
Volumes declined at Istanbul Airport by 6,8%, at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen by 3,4%, at Gatwick by 8,8% and Heathrow by 5,3%. Munich had a 16,4% decrease and Frankfurt an 11% decrease – the sharpest decreases due to the Lufthansa strikes.
“While we were already seeing a normalisation of passenger traffic growth after the post-pandemic bounce back, geopolitical instability is further weighing on growth and exposing differences in performance across markets,” said Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe.
