ACI Europe reports that during the month of September European passenger traffic rose by an average +6.2%, in line with the average growth registered over quarter three (+6.3%) with both EU & non-EU airports on an equal footing.

 

Average European Union airports passenger traffic growth was +6.3% (+6.3% also for Q3), while passenger traffic at non-EU airports rose by +5.8% (+6.4% for Q3). Contrastingly, freight traffic at European airports rose only marginally in September at +0.2% (+0.5% for Q3) while aircraft movements grew by +3.3% (+2.9% for Q3).

 

Apart from Russia and Norway, passenger traffic growth has proved extremely dynamic over the peak summer months across Europe for all segments of the airport industry, according to ACI Europe’s Director General Olivier Jankovec.

 

 

He said: “Within the EU, airports in Hungary, Ireland, Romania, Slovenia and Luxembourg have posted double-digit growth – while the Lufthansa strikes in September have weighed on the performance of German airports. Conversely, several French airports benefited from strong comparison with September last year – when a two-week strike at Air France severely depressed traffic.”

 

Outside the EU, airports in Moldova, Israel, Iceland, Georgia and FYROM all grew in excess of 20% and Ukrainian airports have achieved a significant return to growth. Turkish airports have continued to perform very well – although a couple of airports serving prime tourism destinations have been affected by decreasing traffic from Russia.”

 

Jankovec added that domestic consumption has also proved to be the main driver for economic growth in Europe – on the back of continued low oil prices: “This is particularly the case in the Eurozone, where GDP growth is steady –although still weak. This makes for a mostly positive scenario for passenger traffic in the months ahead.

 

 

“However, shrinking exports remain a risk due to the weakness of emerging economies – meaning freight traffic is unlikely to improve from what has been a flat year so far.”

 

During Q3, airports welcoming more than 25m passengers per year (Group 1), airports welcoming between 10 and 25m (Group 2), those welcoming between 5m and 10m (Group 3) and airports with less than 5m (Group 4) reported average adjustments of +5.0%, +7.6%, +6.2% and +7.4%.

 

ACI Europe says that airports reporting the highest passenger increases in Q3 (compared with Q3 2014) were as follows:

 

GROUP 1: Madrid (+12.9%), Istanbul IST (+12.2%), Paris CDG (+8.4%), Paris ORY (+7.6%) and Amsterdam (+6.5%).

 

GROUP 2: Tel Aviv (+25.1%), Istanbul SAW (+24.1%), Ankara (+19.5%), Athens (+18.3%) and Dublin (15.6%).

 

GROUP 3: Gothenburg GOT (24.3%), Porto (+16.1%), Budapest (+15.1%), Glasgow (+13.4%) and Milan LIN (+11.2%)

 

GROUP 4: Florence (+213.1%), Bucharest BBU (+75.5%), Ohrid (+64.9%), Trabzon (+37.3%) and Astrakhan (+32.7%).

 

 

During the month of September specifically, airports welcoming more than 25m passengers per year (Group 1); those with between 10m and 25m (Group 2); airports with 5-10m (Group 3); and those with less than 5m (Group 4); reported average adjustments of +5.2%, +7.2%, +7.3% and +5.8%.

 

The European association adds that those airports showing the highest increases in passenger traffic during September (compared with September 2014) were as follows:

 

GROUP 1: Paris CDG (+21.1%), Paris ORY (+13.0%), Madrid (+11.7%), Istanbul IST (+8.5%) and Copenhagen (+6.1%).

 

GROUP 2: Tel Aviv (+31.2%), Istanbul SAW (22.6%), Ankara (+16.5%), Athens (+14.7%) and Dublin (+14.3%).

 

GROUP 3: Gothenburg GOT (+21.5%), Porto (+19.2%), Kiev (+17.1%), Toulouse (+17.0%) and Milan LIN (+16.4%).

 

GROUP 4: Bucharest BBU (+150.0%), Ohrid (+72.4%), Trabzon (+41.9%), Odessa (+40.8%) and Keflavik (+32.1%).