European airports see slower but steady passenger growth in Q1 2025, driven by international demand and smaller hubs

Passenger traffic across Europe’s airports grew +4.3% year-on-year in Q1 2025, continuing a positive trend though at a slower pace than Q1 2024 (+10.2%), signalling post-COVID stabilisation. Compared to pre-pandemic Q1 2019 levels, traffic is now +3.2% above.

Key trends:

• International travel (+5.7%) drove all growth; domestic traffic stagnated (0%) and remains -12.8% below 2019 levels.
• Growth decelerated monthly: January (+6.9%), February (+3.4%), March (+3%) — Easter’s April timing partly explains the March dip.
• Smaller airports (<1M passengers) surged +13.4%, although still -34.5% below 2019, while major hubs (>40M passengers) saw just +3% growth.
• Top growing small/medium airports include Bucharest BBU (+1349%), Antakya (+273%), Chi?in?u (+56%), Sarajevo (+41.7%).
• Leading larger airports: Rome FCO (+9.4%), Istanbul SAW (+9.0%), Milan MXP (+12.4%), Tel Aviv TLV (+60.4%).

Freight traffic fell -1.7% across Europe, while aircraft movements rose +3.7% but are still -5.3% below 2019 levels.

ACI EUROPE’s outlook remains cautiously optimistic for summer but flags macroeconomic and geopolitical risks—notably U.S. trade policy shifts, airline capacity discipline, and delivery delays—could challenge demand by winter.