A plane in the air.

In 2024, 6.7 million commercial flights were recorded in the EU, 5.8% more compared with 2023 (6.3 million). Despite this increase, the number of flights remained below the pre-pandemic levels in 2019 (7.0 million).  

Non-scheduled commercial flights (charter flights and other special flights) constituted 8.7% of all flights in 2024. The summer months – June, July, and August – recorded the highest number of non-scheduled flights (10.3%, 10.7%, and 10.1%, respectively). 

Commercial flights in the EU in 2024. Bar chart - Click below to see full dataset

Source dataset: avia_tf_cm

Amsterdam airport: top in the number of commercial flights in 2024 

The highest count of commercial flights in 2024 was recorded in Amsterdam Schiphol airport in the Netherlands – 484 000. It was followed by Paris-Charles de Gaulle (463 000) in France and Frankfurt/Main (437 000) in Germany.  

Among the 10 airports with the biggest numbers of commercial flights, the highest shares of non-scheduled flights were recorded in Athens (5.5%) in Greece, Wien (4.6%) in Austria and Madrid (4.5%) in Spain. 

Top 10 airports in the EU based on the number of flights in 2024. Bar chart - Click below to see full dataset

Source dataset: avia_tf_airpm

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Methodological notes

  • The source of this monthly data on commercial flights is Eurocontrol, a pan-European, civil-military organisation dedicated to supporting European aviation. Data on commercial flights include scheduled and non-scheduled commercial flights (passengers, freight and mail) performed under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). For more information, please refer to the methodological file.
  • A scheduled flight is a commercial air service operated according to a published timetable or with a regular frequency open to direct booking by public. A non-scheduled flight is a commercial air service other than scheduled air services. This includes charter flights and other special flights performed for remuneration such as air taxi, off-shore flights or sightseeing.
  • Attention to methodological differences should be paid when comparing this monthly data with Eurostat data on passenger, freight and mail air transport collected within Regulation 437/2003. For more information about Eurostat data collection, please refer to the methodological file.

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