European airports found 79% of their 2019 customers last year, a doubling in volume over one year, and hope to have "
turned the page
" on Covid-19 even if economic and geopolitical "
uncertainties
" persist.
"
The increase in passenger traffic last year was phenomenal
," said Olivier Jankovec, director general of the European branch of the Airports Council International (ACI Europe), quoted in a statement from his organization on Tuesday.
Attendance at European airports "
almost doubled (+98%) in 2022 compared to the previous year, to reach 1.94 billion passengers
", according to ACI Europe, which brings together more than 500 airport platforms in 55 countries.
These figures remain “
however 21% lower than the volumes of 2019
”, before the health crisis which torpedoed world air transport.
In addition, "
only 27% of European airports have returned to their level of passengers
" before the pandemic, according to the same source.
The recovery is uneven depending on the country, “
reflecting a set of factors, including the continued demand for travel for family and leisure reasons
” which “
boosts airport traffic in tourist countries
”.
Business travel, on the other hand, remains in decline.
Other imbalance factors, “
the targeted development of low-cost carriers, the lingering impact of former travel restrictions and the war in Ukraine
”, according to ACI Europe.
Examples: Greek airports, supported by an excellent tourist season, peaked at 98.1% of their 2019 attendance, Portuguese platforms at 94.2% and Spanish ones at 88.6%.
In smaller markets, records were largely broken: Albania hosted 155.7% of 2019 air passenger volume, Kosovo 126.1% and Bosnia and Herzegovina 120.4%.
Italy and France achieved 82.1% and 81.2% respectively, while the United Kingdom (75.2%) and especially Germany (65.1%) were placed below the average .
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In the ranking of airports, Istanbul welcomed the most passengers, at 64.3 million, ahead of London-Heathrow (61.6 million), Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle (57.5 million), Amsterdam- Schiphol (52.5 million) and Madrid (50.6 million).
For 2023, Olivier Jankovec said he was "
cautiously optimistic
" despite "
geopolitical tensions
": "
Traffic forecasts are improving (...) thanks to the reopening of China
" but also to the prospects of recession which are
away and slowing inflation, he said.
