Overall passenger traffic at European airports reaches pre-pandemic levels

2.5 billion passengers passed through European airports last year, meaning that overall traffic across Europe rose above pre-pandemic levels for the first time, according to the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe. 

This growth in passenger numbers has been driven by rising international passenger numbers, which last year were up 8.8% from 2023. 

“Europe’s airports welcomed an additional 200 million passengers last year, with many surpassing their previous historic records. 

This was achieved despite much-inflated airfares, continued supply pressures, mostly tepid economic growth and geopolitical tensions. That clearly speaks volumes about how consumers are now prioritising experiences and travel in particular”, said Oliver Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe. 

The ACI identified that the best performing European airports last year were Heathrow, Istanbul, Paris Charles De Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and Madrid. Heathrow retained its position as Europe’s busiest airport, recording 83.9 million passengers in 2024, an increase of 5.9% from 2023, according to ACI. 

However, despite overall traffic being up across Europe, there were still performance gaps across other European airports, the ACI said, with 47% of Europe’s airports still recording traffic levels below their pre-pandemic volumes. This the ACI said, is due to a range of factors including structural market changes and geopolitical risks.