Air passenger transport - data by month

Data extracted on 03 October 2024.

Planned article update: 18 February 2025.

Highlights

Between January and March 2024, the EU transported approximately 198 million air passengers, which is similar to the levels observed in the pre-pandemic period of 2019, showing a negligible decline of 0.81%.

In February 2024, the number of passengers carried was above the pre-pandemic level in February 2019 for the first time (+1.0%).

In the first 3 months of 2024, air passenger transport increased in all EU Member States compared with the same period in 2023.

Figure 1: Commercial air flights, EU, January 2023 - March 2024
(% change compared with the same month in 2019)
Source: European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) (avia_tf_cm)

This article describes the recent monthly development of commercial air flights and passenger transport by air in the European Union (EU), as well as in the EFTA countries Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and in the candidate countries Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye. A distinction is made between national (domestic), intra-EU and extra-EU transport, when looking at the evolution of airport traffic.

Full article

Recovery in the number of commercial flights continued in the first 3 months of 2024

Starting early 2020, to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the world took a variety of restrictive travel measures that severely hit the air travel industry. From the second half of 2021, restrictive measures were gradually removed, encouraging people to travel by air again and thus positively impacting commercial air traffic.

In each month of 2023 and 2024 visible signs of recovery were repeated, though small decreases were registered in the total number of commercial flights (passengers, freight and mail) in the EU compared with the same months in 2019 (Figure 1). In the first 6 months of 2023, the recovery continued with smaller decreases compared with the same month in 2019: from 17.5% in January 2023 to 10.3% in June 2023. Starting from July 2023, decreases below 10% were registered for the rest of the months in 2023. The decrease in terms of commercial flights reached the bottom in October 2023 with a decrease of only 6.4% compared with the same month in 2019. In the first 3 months of 2024, January registered the greatest decrease of 2024 with 13.5%, while decreases under 10% were registered for February and March.

Figure 1: Commercial air flights, EU, January 2023 - March 2024
(% change compared with the same month in 2019)
Source: European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) (avia_tf_cm)

In the first 3 months of 2024, there were 198 million air passengers carried at EU level, an 11.5% increase compared with the same period in 2023

Starting in January 2023, when 56.8 million passengers were carried, the number of passengers increased steadily every month (Figure 2). The highest increases were observed between February and March (+19.4%), and March to April (+18.9%). Between April and July, stable increases of around 10% were registered each month. Passenger traffic reached its peak in August 2023, with 106 million passengers carried, before 3 consecutive decreases between August and September (-8.1%), September and October (-6.4%), October and November (-27.5%). In the first quarter of 2024, the highest increase registered was between February and March 2024 (+18.3%), following a decrease in January and a slight increase in February. For the first time since the pandemic, February recorded a higher number of passengers carried compared with the same period in 2019 (+1.0%).

During the first 3 months of 2024, 198 million passengers were carried at EU level, an 11.5% increase compared with the same period of 2023. International extra-EU transport accounted for 50.1% of all passengers carried at EU level in the first 3 months of 2024, while international intra-EU and national transport shares were 34.1% and 15.8%, respectively. Compared with the same period in 2023, intra-EU transport experienced a significant increase of 13.7%, followed by extra-EU transport (+12.4%) and national transport (+4.6%).

Figure 2: Air passengers transport, EU, January 2023 - March 2024
(million passengers carried)
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoc)

Figure 3 shows that passenger transport registered an increase in every month of 2023 and 2024 compared with the same month of the previous year. January, February and March 2023 again registered high increases compared with the same month of 2022, with the highest increase observed in January (+81.4%). Since June 2023, the increase remained stable, around 10.0% for each month. A similar trend was observed in the first 3 months of 2024, with shares of 9.6% in January, 13% in February and 12% in March.

Figure 3: Air passengers transport, EU, January 2023 - March 2024
(% change compared to the same period of the previous year)
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoc)

All EU countries continued to register increasing numbers of air passenger transport in the first 3 months of 2024 compared with the same period of 2023

The number of passengers carried by air increased in all EU Member States in the first 3 months of 2024, compared with the same period of 2023. The highest increase was recorded for Czechia (31.7%). Three EU countries recorded an increase between 20% and 30%: Slovenia (28.4%), Malta (26.3%) and Hungary (20.3%). Nine other Member States recorded an increase of more than 10%: Poland, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece (estimated), Slovakia, Austria and Cyprus. The lowest increase was recorded for Sweden (+1.1%), followed by Finland (+3.5%) and Lithuania (+3.7%). All of this confirms that air passenger transport is on a strong recovery path from the COVID-19 pandemic. Spain carried the highest number of passengers in the first quarter of 2024 with 50 million passengers, followed by Germany (37 million) and France and Italy (both 33 million).

Table 1: Air passengers transport, January 2023 - March 2024
(thousand passengers carried)
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoc)

All top 30 EU airports showed signs of recovery in the first 3 months of 2024

Table 2 presents the evolution of air passenger transport in the top 30 EU airports. The airports were ranked according to the total annual number of passengers carried in 2023. Paris Charles de Gaulle airport maintained the first position in the ranking for the entire period from January 2023 to March 2024.

All the airports in the top 30 registered an increase in the first 3 months of 2024, compared with the same period of 2023. The highest increase recorded was for Praha/Ruzyne (+31.0%), followed by Roma/Fiumicino (+30.1%), Alicante (+22.8%), Warszawa/Chopina (+21.9%), and Malaga/Costa del Sol (+21.7%). Fourteen additional airports recorded an increase of more than 10%. The lowest increases were for Helsinki-Vantaa (+0.7%), Paris-Orly (+2.7%) and Stockholm/Arlanda (+3.7%).

Table 2: Top 30 EU airports, January 2023 - March 2024
(thousand passengers carried)
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoa)

Source data for tables and graphs

Air passenger transport statistics

Data sources

Definition of 'passengers carried'

All passengers on a particular flight are counted once only and not repeatedly on each individual stage of that flight. This excludes direct transit passengers.

Exclusion of double counting

The national transport (included in total transport at country level) and intra-EU transport aggregates (included in total transport at EU level) were calculated by taking into account only departure declarations so as to exclude double counting.

Notes on some reporting countries

Greece: number of passengers carried have been estimated for January-March 2024.

Context

The content of this statistical article is based on data collected within the framework of the air transport statistics Regulation (EC) No 437/2003 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air.