Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 6, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleEuropean airport traffic rose 4.5% in H1, driven by international travel, highlighting tourism's resilience amid economic challenges.
(Reuters) -Passenger traffic across the European airport network rose 4.5% in the first half compared with the same period last year, said Brussels-based European airport trade body ACI Europe on Wednesday.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT:
Tourism remains key for many European economies, and the higher passenger numbers at European airports signal a resilience for the sector in the face of headwinds such as inflation and trade tariffs with the United States. In the first half of 2024, passenger traffic had risen by 9% versus the prior year, according to ACI Europe.
KEY QUOTE:
"The summer season keeps delivering for now — let's see how the following months will be shaping up," said ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec.
BY THE NUMBERS:
ACI Europe's figures cover major European airport companies such as Aeroports de Paris, Frankfurt's Fraport and Spanish airport operator Aena.
International passenger traffic accounted for all of the gains (+5.7%) as domestic traffic remained flat (+0.2%), according to ACI Europe.
Amongst the largest European markets, airports in Italy registered the highest increase in passenger traffic with growth of 5.7%, followed by Spain which had growth of 4.5%.
Airports in France, Britain and Germany had less strong passenger traffic growth, with 3.6% for France and 2.3% for Britain and Germany.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Passenger traffic across the European airport network rose 4.5% in the first half compared with the same period last year.
Airports in Italy registered the highest increase in passenger traffic with growth of 5.7%.
International passenger traffic accounted for all of the gains at 5.7%, while domestic traffic remained flat at 0.2%.
The higher passenger numbers at European airports signal resilience for the tourism sector in the face of challenges like inflation and trade tariffs.
ACI Europe's figures cover major European airport companies such as Aeroports de Paris, Frankfurt's Fraport, and Spanish airport operator Aena.
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