Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union

E3: Transport

5, Rue Alphonse Weicker L- 2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG G-D

The data are derived from the regulatory data collection based on the provisions of the Regulation (EC) N°1358/2003, implementing Regulation N°437/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air. The data present number of flights, number of passengers (on-board) and tonnes of freight (on-board) broken down into national/international/intra- extra-EU, distance bands and aircraft categories.

1. Reporting airports covered - all commercial airports with more than 150 000 passenger units per year (airports of categories 2 and 3). Such airports report flight stage data (airport pair data) under the provision of the Regulation (EC) N°1358/2003 (implementing Regulation N°437/2003).

2. Distance bands: 

0-300km (KM_LT300)

300-500km (KM300-499)

500-1000km (KM500-999)

1000km – 1500km (KM1000-1499)

1500- 2000km (KM1500-1999)

>2000 (KM_GE2000)

3. Categories of aircraft:

Regarding size or carrying capacity, aircrafts can be grouped into jumbo jets (with more than 400 seats), wide-body jets (two aisle, between 240 and 400 seats), narrow-body jets (single aisle, between 90 and 240 seats), regional jets (below 90 seats), supersonic jets (narrow-body like), regional turboprops (between 20 and 90 seats), and small propellers (up to 20 seats). There are also the categories “Other (OTH)” (that includes piston aircraft and other types of aircraft that could not be assigned into any of the categories mentioned above) as well as “Unknown (UNK)” category for all the declarations for which the type of aircraft was provided as unknown.

jumbo jet (AC_JJ)

wide-body jet (AC_WJ)

narrow-body jet (AC_NJ)

regional jet (AC_RJ)

regional turboprop (AC_RT)

other (OTH)

unknown  (UNK)

 A detailed table is presented in Aircraft classification file in the Annex part of the metadata file.

4. Type of flights

Number of flights are presented separately for passenger flights and for flights with freight and mail only.

5. Direction  

The data are split into arrivals and departures.

Commercial air transport

Flight stage

The operation of an aircraft from take-off to its next landing. This is linked to the definition of passengers (or freight and mail) on board.

Passengers on board

All passengers on board of the aircraft upon landing at the reporting airport or at taking off from the reporting airport. All revenue and non-revenue passengers on board an aircraft during a flight stage. Includes direct transit passengers (counted at arrivals and departures).

Freight and mail on board

All freight and mail on board of the aircraft upon landing at the reporting airport or at taking off from the reporting airport. All freight and mail on board an aircraft during a flight stage. Includes direct transit freight and mail (counted at arrivals and departures). Includes express services and diplomatic bags. Excludes passenger baggage.

Commercial air flight

An air transport flight performed for the public transport of passengers and/or freight and mail, for remuneration and for hire.

Note: empty flights are not included in the data collection.

Passenger flight (passenger air service)

Scheduled or non-scheduled air service performed by aircraft carrying one or more revenue passengers and any flights listed in published timetables as open to passengers.

Includes flights carrying both revenue passengers and revenue freight and mail.

Freight flight (all-freight and mail air service)

Scheduled or non-scheduled air service performed by aircraft carrying revenue loads other than revenue passengers, i.e. freight and mail.

Excludes flights carrying one or more revenue passengers and flights listed in published timetables as open to passengers.

Type of transport

• Domestic/national

Domestic flights = National (domestic) transport is defined as transport where departure and arrival airport are located in the same country.

• International total split into

International intra-EU (for EU and EU Member States only); International intra-EU flight = transport is defined as transport between airports located in different EU Member States.

International extra-EU transport (for EU and EU Member States only); International extra EU flight = transport between the concerned EU country and non-EU countries.

For non-EU countries there is no intra- and extra- EU breakdown.

Intra-EU and extra-EU refer to EU-27. UK is treated as a third country for the whole time series to ensure data consistency.

The DOM (Overseas departments and regions of France (Département et région d'outre-mer)) are treated as national and included in the intra-EU transport as well.

Exclusion of double counting

When declarations on the number of tonnes/passengers between a pair of origin and destination airports (A and B) are available from both airports, the transport performance for this pair is calculated on the basis of the outward traffic (departure) for each of these airports, in order to avoid double counting:

• Transport performance between A and B = (outwards of A + outwards of B) * (distance between A and B)

where:
- ‘outwards of A’ is traffic from A to B, and  
- ‘outwards of B’ is traffic from B to A.

If the declaration is available from only one of the two airports (for example, airport A; i.e. the outward traffic was not declared by the partner airport B), the transport performance is calculated on the basis of the inward and outward traffic of the declaring airport A for flights to airport B:

• Transport performance between A and B = (inwards of A + outwards of A)* (distance between A and B)

where:
- ‘inwards of A’ is traffic from B to A, and     
- ‘outwards of A’ is traffic from A to B.

Exclusion of the double counting is performed at city level and using the dimensions period and schedule/non-schedule for number of passengers and freight and mail. For number of flights, the dimension passengers/freight flight is also taken into account.

Double counting exclusion concerns national transport at country level and intra-EU at EU level.

National transport at EU level corresponds to the sum of the national transport of the EU Member States.

Distance matrix

Eurostat does not collect detailed information on the routes followed by the aircraft when transporting freight or passengers between two airports (real distance flown of each flight). Therefore, Eurostat has developed a distance matrix for air transport, based on the shortest (great-circle) distance between pairs of airports. The great-circle distance (‘orthodromic’ distance) corresponds to the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a sphere. The total distance between pair of airports is available in the distance matrix (calculated on the basis of the geographical coordinates of the airports), enabling the attribution of airport routes to a distance band.

Territorial waters of 12 nautical miles (=22.2 km) from the coastline, as determined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), are considered to be part of countries’ sovereign airspace according to international law.

Airport distance matrix used for the calculation is available in TERCET.

Particularities:

1. Partner locations declared by the reporting countries as unknown (‘ZZZZ’) are excluded from the calculation. As a consequence, results obtained might be lower than the data in other Eurobase tables presenting air transport.

2. In case partner airport is declared as unknown (country code + 99), main airport (reference airport) in a country (or country zone in case of big countries like US, CN, RU, AU, CA, IN) is taken as partner airport. Main partner airport has been selected based on 2008-2019 data (number of passengers and tonnes of freight) reported by the countries (EU + IS, NO, CH + UK + MK from 2015 + ME and RS from 2016 TR from 2012). Number of passengers and tonnes of freight and mail have been recalculated into passenger units in order to select the main airport. The selected airport is used for the calculation of the data both for passenger and freight. In case an airport selected as reference airport is the same as reporting one (e.g.: Paris CDG LFPG - being selected as reference airport for France - declares traffic with LF99 airport (unknown French airport), the second largest airport in France is selected as an reference airport (in order to avoid circular flights being taken for the calculation; in this case: LFPG – LFPG). List of main airports is available in the Annex part of the metadata (Reference airports). Refer also to Routes added by ESTAT - Special cases file in the Annex part that provides information on reference airport attributed in case of partner airports declared with Country Code+99.

3. Czechia: as airport-airport data CZ are considered sensitive by CZ, therefore all partner airports are re-coded with Country Code+99.

4. Distance of 30 km is assigned to circular flights (a flight where reporting and partner airport is the same).

The data used in the domain are collected from different data providers depending on a country and dataset at the airport level (mostly from airports or/and airlines).

Commercial airports with more than 150 000 passenger units per year (airports of categories 2 and 3).

EU Member States (EU27), UK (until 2019), EU candidate countries (Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey), EFTA countries (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland).

Partial (shorter time series) data for ME, MK, RS and TR are available. For TR no data on freight transport available.

No data for Albania and Lichtenstein are available. 

2008 onwards; tables updated on annual basis

Not applicable

Number of passengers, tonnes (for freight and mail), flights (passenger, freight)

Transport of passengers and freight by air in a calendar year.

This data transmission is based on a EP and Council framework legal act and on several implementing Commission Regulations:

• Regulation (EC) No 437/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 February 2003 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air.
• Commission Regulation (EC) No 1358/2003 of 31/07/2003.
• Commission Regulation No 546/2005 of 8 April 2005.
• Commission Regulation No 158/2007 of 16 February 2007.

As concerns air transport statistics. there are no specific agreements related to data sharing and exchange between Eurostat and national or international data collecting/producing agencies/bodies. Eurostat collects the statistics based on the legal act (Regulation 437/2003). All users have equal access to statistical releases at the same time.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

As concerns air transport statistics, the data provided to Eurostat in the datasets A1, B1 and C1 contain no confidential information. There are some restrictions put on the dissemination of detailed information on airlines, which are sometimes considered as sensitive (especially when combined with other variables, like routes or/and number of passengers transported). That's why the data providers may deliver this information with a higher level of aggregation (coded into EU and non-EU). Eurostat anyway disseminates airline information with EU or non-EU registered airline labels only.

Data at that level of aggregation are not regarded as confidential.

Each year on the 7th of December.

Each year on the 7th of December.

For the new releases - follow the on-line calendar.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Following mentioned above rules all users have equal access to statistical releases on air transport at the same time.

Annually - basically the tables are updated once the data collection for a specific year is completed.

Data published on the 7th of December 2022 for the first time together with News item.

Not available

Please consult free data on-line (Transport/Air transport/Air transport Measurement - traffic data by airports, aircraft and airlines

Not applicable for air transport statistics.

Not applicable for air transport statistics.

The Reference Manual on Air Transport Statistics - contains detailed methodological information as well as background information on the implementation of the legal acts and on how data are processed and disseminated by Eurostat.

The Reference manual and other methodological information concerning the data collection are available in the metadata file on passenger and freight transport.

The Reference Manual (PART III: PROCEDURES FOR DATA TREATMENT AND DISSEMINATION) includes a section describing the quality checks applied to the incoming data as well as showing the results of the quality analysis of the data received.

The system on statistics on air transport follows as far as possible the European Statistics Code of practice and Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System, more precisely Principle 4: Commitment to Quality.

Data quality is ensured by the implementation of a common and well established methodology (Reference manual on air transport statistics) for the data collection and compilation at country level. Data is subsequently validated in Eurostat by applying different controls (codification, format checks, consistency over time, inter-datasets checks) on every incoming data set, before and after treatment, as well as by cross-checking partner countries figures (mirror statistics). The results of data quality control are always provided to the reporting country either for information or for comments or/and corrections.

Data quality is monitored on regular basis and in general can be assessed as high, but might differ a little bit from country to country. There is a set of validation rules and quality checks put in place, which detects various types of issues. The results of the validation process run on every single dataset are always communicated to the data providers. In case of any issues detected, each data provider needs to provide explanations or/and revise the data accordingly. Annually, a data quality report is prepared with a summary of the main findings affecting quality as well as showing the solution adopted and the materiality of the existing differences. It is provided to each country in order either to correct the existing data or to improve the data quality for the future data transmissions. Moreover mirror checks are prepared and provided to all reporting countries in order to improve consistency.

Moreover, data quality aspects are always on the agenda of the bi-annual Working Group on Air transport Statistics.

The usual users of air transport data are people from different Commission Services or other European institutions (e.g.: DG MOVE, DG REGIO, DG COMP, the European Court of Auditors), National Statistical Authorities, international or other governmental institutions (Ministries of Transport), universities or research institutions, journalists as well as the users involved in the industry as airlines, airports or air traffic management.

Users mainly request these data to properly monitor the development of air transport in the EU and other European countries, evaluate the impact of the air transport industry in the economy, quantify the importance of the transport flows of passengers and freight at intra-EU and extra-EU level and assess the competition in the air transport market.

The existing data collection on air transport statistics is well appreciated by the users are cover major users' needs. Accuracy, clarity and comparability are particularly indicated as good qualities of these data. European air transport statistics are a valuable resource to a wide range of users.

Completeness of data is high. There is an obligation of data provision for the Member States and EFTA countries, as a consequence, there are very few gaps in the data provision, at least since 2003 when the framework legal act came into force.

The completeness of the data provided by other countries (e.g.: the Candidate and Potential Candidate Countries) differs from country to country, as they provide air transport statistics on voluntary basis. Please refer to national metadata for more details.

Partner locations declared by the reporting countries as unknown (‘ZZZZ’) are excluded from the calculation - for more details refer to point 3.4.

Overall accuracy of the data is good. Regular mirror checks exercises and comparisons with other relevant international sources (ICAO, airports and airlines data) shows a high level of comparability.

Not applicable for air transport data collection.

Not applicable for air transport data collection.

According to the existing legal basis, countries have 6 months to deliver the data for the reference monthly period.  Some countries experience for time to time problems in providing the data on time (delayed data compilation by airports, IT issues, additional checks and clarifications with the data providers needed, etc.). Eurostat needs another couple of weeks to process (additional quality checks, like mirror checks are performed) and disseminate final data together with EU aggregates (as for that the final data from all EU countries are needed). It means that the final annual data are disseminated around 7-8 months after the reference period, usually together with Statistics Explained articles. Tables that present data by distance classes are updated a little bit later because the distance matrix needs to be updated as well.

A majority of countries deliver the data earlier than the t+6 months regulatory deadline. The rest of the countries respect the deadline for data provision with some occasional exceptions. Final annual data together with EU-aggregates are disseminated about nine months after the reference period.

Data comparability across countries is very high. This is ensured by the implementation of a common methodology. In addition, the so-called "mirror checks" allow to compare the data declared by partner reporting airports and find possible inconsistencies that are corrected as far as possible.

Data comparable as collected within the legal act and uniform methodology behind.

Data coherent - see particularities under point 3.4.

Data coherent - see particularities under point 3.4.

No additional burden put on data providers. The data are derived from the existing data collection and internally calculated by Eurostat.

The general Eurostat revision policy applies to this domain.

All reported errors (once validated) result in corrections of the disseminated data.

Data are only published once they are deemed to be sufficiently complete for all data providers.

Whenever new data are provided and validated, the already disseminated data are updated with next regular production cycle. European aggregates are updated for consistency with new country data at the same time.

Eurostat collects air transport statistics from national authorities, which can be for instance the Statistical Office, Ministry of Transport or the Civil Aviation Authority. It depends on the organisation of the data collection arranged in each reporting country. Original data sources for national authorities are normally the airports organisations or enterprises as well as airlines.

The data used for the tables presenting traffic by distance bands are collected on a monthly basis and cover airports with annual traffic of more than 150 000 passenger units per year and then aggregated for the dissemination purpose.

Source data are transmitted to Eurostat using the EDAMIS engine tool following the transmission format foreseen in the Regulation 1358/2003.

The data presented by distance bands are derived from the primary data collection. The data validation procedures are described in the source metadata file under point 18.4.

Aggregation of monthly to annual data. In addition, aggregation by type of aircraft, distance bands and type of traffic. Detailed information described under points 3.2 and 3.4.

Not applicable

Not applicable.