Number of air passengers up 8% in 2024

In 2024, the total number of passengers travelling by air in the EU was 1.1 billion, an increase of 8.3% compared with 2023 (973 million). 

Data show that in 2024, all EU countries registered an increase in the number of passengers carried by air compared with 2023. Hungary (+19.2%), Czechia (+18.9%) and Estonia (+17.8%) reported the largest increases, while the lowest ones were in Sweden (+1.3%), Bulgaria (+3.8%) and France and Ireland (both +4.6%).

This information comes from data on air transport published by Eurostat. The article presents a selection of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained articles on air passenger transport statistics and on air freight transport. 

Source dataset: avia_paoc

Increase in air freight and mail transport 

Total air freight and mail transport in the EU also saw an increase of 8.7% in 2024 compared with 2023. It was driven by a 10.8% growth in extra-EU transport, while intra-EU transport was almost stable at +0.1% and domestic transport fell by 4.3%. 

At national level, Hungary (+65.9%), Czechia (+43.7%) and Greece (+36.7%) recorded the highest increases, while only Poland (-3.6%) and Latvia (-2.7%) registered declines.

Top 9 airports for air passenger transport remain the same 

In 2024, among the 10 EU airports recording the biggest numbers of passengers carried were Paris/Charles de Gaulle, with 70.3 million passengers (+4.3%), Amsterdam/Schiphol, 66.8 million passengers (+8.0%), Madrid/Barajas, 66.1 million (+9.9%), Frankfurt/Main, 61.5 million (+3.7%) and Barcelona/El Prat, which recorded 54.9 million (+10.3%).  

Roma/Fiumicino placed 6th with 48.7 million passengers, but saw the highest increase among the top 10 airports (+20.8%). Athinai/Eleftherios Venizelos moved ahead and replaced Paris-Orly in 2024, securing the 10th place thanks to a significant passenger growth compared with 2023 (+19.6%).

Source dataset: avia_paoa

Each year, 7 December marks the celebration of International Civil Aviation Day.