Passenger traffic across Europe’s airports rose by 4.6% in January compared with the same month last year, according to new figures from ACI EUROPE.
The trade body said growth was driven largely by international travel, which increased by 5.5% year-on-year. Domestic passenger numbers rose more modestly, up 1.8%, and remain 8.1% below pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Airports in non-EU+ markets outperformed those within the EU+ area, recording growth of 8.8% compared with 3.6%.
Outlook uncertain after Middle East conflict
Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI EUROPE, said January traffic data would typically signal resilient demand for the year ahead.
However, he warned that the conflict which erupted in the Middle East last week has significantly increased uncertainty.
He said the Gulf region has become a critical hub for European connectivity over the past two decades — not only for direct travel but also as a gateway to Asia-Pacific. Any prolonged disruption could therefore affect both direct and indirect traffic flows, particularly at major hub airports.
National markets continue to diverge
Traffic performance varied sharply between countries.
Within the EU+ market, eastern and peripheral countries posted the strongest gains. Slovakia led with a 98% surge, followed by Slovenia (+20.8%), Malta (+17.2%), Ireland (+13.8%), Czechia (+13.5%), Cyprus (+13.3%), Bulgaria (+12.6%) and Poland (+11.8%).
By contrast, airports in the Netherlands saw traffic fall 7.3%, largely due to adverse weather, while Iceland (-4.3%) and Latvia (-3.2%) were hit by airline capacity cuts.
Among Europe’s largest markets, Italy recorded the strongest growth at 4.1%, ahead of Germany (+3.5%), Spain (+2.6%), France (+2.1%) and the UK (+2%).
In the non-EU+ group, Moldova (+35.4%), North Macedonia (+31%), Israel (+24.4%), Uzbekistan (+23.9%) and Georgia (+16%) saw the highest growth. Montenegro (-1.7%) and Kazakhstan (+0.1%) lagged behind.
Istanbul overtakes Heathrow
Istanbul Airport handled 6.9 million passengers in January, up 6.4% year-on-year, overtaking London Heathrow Airport, which saw traffic rise 2.2% to 6.5 million passengers.
Madrid climbed to third place, ahead of Paris Charles de Gaulle, while Amsterdam’s traffic fell 9.1% following severe weather disruption earlier in the month.
Frankfurt recorded solid growth of 4.9%, while Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen posted the strongest performance among major airports, up 14.3%.
Smaller airports still lag pre-pandemic levels
Airports handling fewer than one million passengers delivered the fastest annual growth, up 12.7%.
However, they remain 28.7% below 2019 levels, underlining continued structural fragility in the sector. Fewer than half (49%) of small airports have fully recovered to pre-pandemic volumes.
By airport category, January growth rates compared with last year were:
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Major airports (over 40 million passengers): +2.6%
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Mega airports (25–40 million): +4.7%
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Large airports (10–25 million): +6.1%
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Medium airports (1–10 million): +5.1%
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Small airports (under 1 million): +12.7%
ACI EUROPE said the figures reflect resilient leisure demand but also highlight ongoing disparities between markets, shaped by taxation, geopolitics and airline capacity decisions.
While January’s data points to continued recovery momentum, the organisation said the escalation in the Middle East has introduced fresh risks for Europe’s aviation outlook in 2026.
