Statistics Explained

Archive:Air transport statistics at regional level

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Data from March 2008, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

The rapid growth of air transport has been one of the most important transport sector developments in the European Union and throughout the world. Since 1995, intra-EU and domestic passenger air transport increased by more than 50 %. While the events of 11 September 2001 led to a decline in air transport in 2002, growth rates resumed thereafter.

There is no doubt that the completion of the liberalisation of the air transport market in the European Union contributed significantly to this development. This is shown by the massive expansion of low-cost airlines, which, in turn, led to a remarkable growth of smaller, regional airports. These are less congested and have lower landing fees than large airports in the capital regions.

Main statistical findings

Table 1: Top 30 NUTS 2 regions with highest number of air passengers in 2006 and index 2003 = 100 (1 000 passengers carried)
Table 2: Top 30 NUTS 2 regions with highest volume of air freight in 2006 and index 2003 = 100

In this article on air transport, the focus is on the total number of passengers and the total number of tonnes loaded and unloaded in airports in 30 European regions. The regions covered are the top 30 NUTS 2 regions. Table 1 and Table 2 list these regions, which had the highest number of air passengers and the highest volume of air freight in 2006.

  • In air passenger transport, the top-ranking regions in terms of the total number of passengers are the capital regions of western Europe. The list is headed by Île-de-France (FR; see list of country abbreviations), with 82.1 million passengers for the airports Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris/Orly, followed by Outer London, UK (Heathrow airport) with 67.3 million passengers, Darmstadt, DE (Frankfurt/Main airport) with 52.4 million, Noord Holland, NL (Amsterdam/Schiphol) with 46.0 million, Comunidad de Madrid (ES) with 45.1 million and Lombardia (IT), having several airports geographically spread, with 36.7 million.
  • The big airports in and around western Europe’s capitals also serve as central hubs for intercontinental air traffic from outside the EU. This is especially true for the airports Heathrow (London), Charles-de-Gaulle (Paris), Frankfurt/Main and Schiphol (Amsterdam).
  • In addition to the important capital regions, high air passenger transport volumes are also observed for Cataluña (ES), Canarias (Canary Islands, ES) and Oberbayern (München, DE). The high passenger volumes for the south of Spain can be explained by high levels of tourist traffic.
  • Although this is not visible from Table 1, a significant number of smaller, regional airports are among the fastest-growing airports because of the ongoing success of low-cost carriers.
  • Among the top 30 airports for passenger transport the Praha region (Prague, CZ), with + 55 %, shows the strongest growth since 2003, followed by Cataluña (+ 41 %), Southern and Eastern in Ireland (+ 35 %), Niederösterreich, AT (+ 32 %), Comunidad Valenciana, ES (+ 31 %), Andalucia and Lisboa, PT (+ 29 %), Oberbayern with München (+ 28 %) and Comunidad de Madrid (+ 27 %). The strong development of air passenger transport at the airports of the Iberian peninsula is especially noteworthy. It is not surprising that the biggest airports do not show the fastest growth, since they are already starting from a high base and are often operating near to maximum capacity. However, the picture may change in the near future due to significant expansions of capacity, e.g. at London Heathrow airport or the Berlin-Schönefeld airport.
  • For air freight transport, Darmstadt (Frankfurt/Main) leads the list of the top 30 European regions with 2.12 million tonnes, followed by Noord-Holland (Amsterdam/Schiphol: 1.57 million tonnes), Île-de-France (Paris: 1.42 million tonnes) and Outer London (Heathrow: 1.34 million tonnes). Volumes at other European airports are significantly smaller, indicating that the biggest European airports serve as the main European hubs for air freight transport. Relatively high volumes can also be observed in four other regions, namely: Prov. Vlaams Brabant, BE (Brussel/Bruxelles: 0.71 million tonnes), Köln, DE (Köln-Bonn: 0.69 million tonnes), Luxembourg, LU (0.63 million tonnes) and Lombardia (Milano/Bergamo/Brescia: 0.60 million tonnes).
  • The total volume of air freight transport is limited compared to the much higher volumes on road, rail, inland waterways and especially maritime transport. Nevertheless, air freight transport is very important for articles with high added value, perishable goods (especially food) and also express parcels, and its importance is steadily growing.
  • While air freight transport is dominated by the big airports, the most dynamic growth was at the regional airports of Frankfurt-Hahn in the Koblenz region of Germany and at the airports in Southern and Eastern Ireland. Both regions enjoyed growth of over 200 % between 2003 and 2006. However, the respective reasons behind this development are different. While the growth of the relatively new airport of Frankfurt/Hahn underlines its growing importance, which is due to the untapped potential of the airport itself, the dynamic development of air transport in Ireland was closely connected to Ireland’s strong economic growth.

Data sources and availability

Eurostat’s statistical databases contain air transport statistics at a regional level for passengers and freight. These series show passenger and freight movements over NUTS 2 regions measured in thousands of passengers and tonnes, respectively. The passenger data are divided into passengers embarking, disembarking and in transit. The freight statistics data are divided into tonnes of freight loaded and unloaded. Two series are available here, based on different methodologies. The series going back to 1978 ended with reference year 1998 and was replaced by a new time series with different definitions as from 1999.

Context

Currently, data on air transport are collected under Regulation (EC) No 437/2003 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air. This regulation provides for the collection of detailed monthly data for airports handling more than 150 000 passengers per year. For airports handling fewer than 150 000 but more than 15 000 passengers, only aggregated annual data are required, whereas for minor airports no data need to be provided. The data collected at airport level are then aggregated at regional NUTS 2 level.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Air transport (t_avia)
Air transport of passengers (ttr00012)
Air transport of goods (ttr00011)

Database

Data
Database
Regional statistics
Regional transport statistics (reg_tran)
Air transport of passengers at regional level (new methodology) (tran_r_avpa_nm)
Air transport of freight at regional level (new methodology) (tran_r_avgo_nm)
Air transport of passengers at regional level (old methodology) (tran_r_avpa_om)
Air transport of freight at regional level (old methodology) (tran_r_avgo_om)

Dedicated section

Other information

External links

See also

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