Summary
- Demand for air travel in Europe is steadily increasing, with the number of flights nearing pre-pandemic levels.
- The top 10 European airports have seen improvements in operations, with most airports experiencing sustained growth compared to last year.
- Wizz Air, Ryanair, and Turkish Airlines have seen significant increases in flight levels compared to 2019, while three airports are handling traffic above their 2019 levels.
As the aviation industry continues to inch closer to pre-pandemic operational levels, demand across Europe has remained strong during the first half of this month. The overall number of flights currently sits just below the amount recorded in August 2019.
With the increased traffic, airports are also recording more flights. Among the top 10 European airports, nine have seen an improvement in operations since last year.
More than 30,000 flights recorded
Last week, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) released its European Aviation Overview, which provides a detailed snapshot of the latest network trends. For the week of August 9th-15th, the agency said the network recorded 32,420 average daily flights, a 7% increase from 2022. The results indicate that the network remains stable by a difference of only -0.4% from the previous week.
The number of flights in the network during the week was 94% of 2019 levels, just below the agency’s base scenarios of forecasted flights released late last year, which was 95%. Although the current situation remains stable from last week, aircraft operators did not add more flights to add capacity. Closely comparing numbers to the previous week, the top 10 operators experienced a slight decrease of -0.2%, according to EUROCONTROL.
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Airline and airport performances
Here are the top 10 operators in Europe last week:
Ranking | Aircraft Operator | Average Daily Flights | Compared to the Previous Week | 2022 Comparison | 2019 Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ryanair | 3,351 | -0% | +11% | +27% |
2 | EasyJet | 1,791 | +1% | +9% | -5% |
3 | Turkish Airlines | 1,633 | -1% | +10% | +8% |
4 | Lufthansa | 1,226 | -2% | +2% | -18% |
5 | Air France | 1,071 | +0% | +0% | -8% |
6 | Wizz Air | 937 | +0% | +14% | +37% |
7 | KLM Royal Dutch Airlines | 904 | -0% | +17% | -4% |
8 | British Airways | 847 | +0% | +21% | -11% |
9 | Vueling | 701 | -0% | -2% | -5% |
10 | Eurowings | 631 | +0% | +13% | -15% |
Wizz Air, Ryanair, and Turkish Airlines appear to soar above their 2019 flight levels with an increase of 37%, 27%, and 8%, respectively.
The top 10 airports include:
Ranking | Airport | Average Flights (Departures & Arrivals) | 2022 Comparison | 2019 Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Istanbul Airport (IST) | 1,516 | +13% | +15% |
2 | Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) | 1,383 | +11% | -7% |
3 | Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) | 1,332 | +5% | -12% |
4 | London Heathrow Airport (LHR) | 1,317 | +20% | -2% |
5 | Frankfurt Airport (FRA) | 1,293 | +12% | -13% |
6 | Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD) | 1,087 | +7% | -9% |
7 | Antalya Airport (AYT) | 1,037 | +8% | +8% |
8 | Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN) | 961 | +7% | -9% |
9 | Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI) | 955 | +1% | +2% |
10 | Munich Airport (MUC) | 892 | -0% | -22% |
Every airport except MUC experienced sustained growth compared to last year, with PMI recording the least and LHR with the most. Three airports, IST, AYT, and PMI, currently handle traffic above their levels recorded in 2019.
Arrival and departure punctuality also improved. According to EUROCONTROL, 71.7% of flights arrived on time at top airports last week, a 1.9% increase compared to 2019. It was also an improvement on last year as overall arrival punctuality was 67.5%. On the departure side, 63.2% of flights were on time, a gain of less than 1% from 2019 but a better increase from 2022, when departure punctuality was 59.7% at the top airports in the network.
Top countries
The United Kingdom recorded the most flights at 6,033, while Spain came in second with 5,518 flights. Versus the previous week, the UK did not see an increase or decrease, but Spain recorded -1%. Germany came in third with just over 5,000 flights, and France was close behind with nearly 4,500 flights. Italy rounded out the top five states with the most flights last week with 4,234.
It is unclear how the agency expects the network will operate in the coming months, but it could be likely that several airports will reach their pre-pandemic levels as demand remains strong and airlines continue to expand their operations.
Source: EUROCONTROL