The recovery in airline traffic in Europe “paused” in October with just over one-third of the continent’s airports now back to or above pre-Covid passenger numbers.
Figures from airports association ACI Europe showed that the month’s traffic was still 12 per cent lower than October 2019, despite seeing a 40 per cent rise compared with October 2021.
The recovery to 88 per cent of pre-Covid traffic in October matched September’s figure and was the first time since the spring that there was not a month-on-month improvement, indicating that the pace of recovery has “stalled”.
Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, said that only 36 per cent of European airports have fully recovered to or exceeded pre-pandemic passenger numbers, most of which are regional and smaller airports.
“There is no doubt an array of factors are combining to reshape the market,” added Jankovec. “These range from the war in Ukraine, deteriorating macro-economics and continued travel restrictions to parts of Asia, through to low-cost carriers selectively expanding capacity within Europe, fast-rising airfares and changed demand patterns.
“We have now entered the winter season, and the big question mark is how these factors will interact and impact demand in the coming months.”
Airports in Iceland, Greece and Portugal saw traffic achieve or exceed pre-Covid levels in October, while Spain, Ireland and Italy were among those markets to come close to a full recovery during the month.
The picture is far less rosy for airports in the Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden, which “significantly underperformed” pre-pandemic numbers, mainly due to the war in Ukraine and weaker airline sectors.
Europe’s major hub airports continue to lag their regional counterparts in their speed of recovery, with collective October traffic down 17 per cent on pre-Covid figures, according to ACI Europe.
Istanbul was Europe’s busiest airport with nearly six million passengers in October, followed by London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle, which remain 16 per cent and 18.5 per cent respectively below October 2019 traffic levels.
This was better than Frankfurt, which was down 23.3 per cent on October 2019, and Amsterdam Schiphol, where passenger traffic was 23.6 per cent lower than pre-Covid. Schiphol is continuing to impose a cap on passenger numbers during the winter season, unlike many of its main hub competitors, due to ongoing staffing issues.