In 2012, 827 million passengers1 travelled by air in the EU27, a rise of 0.7% compared with 2011. Looking back over a longer period, air passenger transport has increased by 10.0% compared with 2009, the low point following the financial crisis, but only by 3.6% compared with 2008.
These figures are published2 by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Largest increases in air passenger transport in Lithuania and Estonia, largest decreases in Slovenia and Slovakia
In 2012, the highest numbers of air passengers were recorded in the United Kingdom (203 million, +0.8% compared with 2011), Germany (179 mn, +1.9%), Spain (160 mn, -3.3%), France (135 mn, +2.7%) and Italy (116 mn, -0.1%). On average across the EU27, the number of air passengers rose by 0.7% between 2011 and 2012, with the largest increases in Lithuania (+17.6%) and Estonia (+15.5%), and the highest decreases in Slovenia
(-14.1%) and Slovakia (-13.5%).
London/Heathrow remains busiest passenger airport
London/Heathrow remained the EU’s busiest passenger airport, with 70 million passengers handled, up by 0.9% compared with 2011. Paris/Charles de Gaulle (61 mn, +1.0%) and Frankfurt/Main (57 mn, +1.8%) were the second and third busiest airports, followed by Amsterdam/Schiphol (51 mn, +2.6%) and Madrid/Barajas (45 mn, -8.9%). Twenty of the top 30 airports registered increases in the number of passengers handled in 2012, with the highest rises in Berlin/Tegel and Nice/Côte d’Azur (both +7.4%), Wien/Schwechat (+5.2%) and Manchester (+4.5%). The largest falls were observed in Athens (-10.2%), followed by Madrid/Barajas (-8.9%), Praha/Ruzyne (-8.1%) and Gran Canaria (-6.6%).
London/Heathrow (42 million) handled the most extra-EU passengers, Amsterdam/Schiphol (28 mn) the most intra-EU passengers and Madrid/Barajas (14 mn) the most national passengers.
Air passenger transport, 2012
Total transport
National
Intra-EU27*
Extra-EU27*
Passengers,
000s
% growth 2012/2011
Passengers,
000s
Passengers,
000s
Passengers,
000s
EU27**
826 728
0.7
159 484
350 913
316 330
Belgium
25 914
3.2
40
17 481
8 392
Bulgaria
6 819
2.5
205
4 896
1 718
Czech Republic
11 742
-7.2
91
7 967
3 685
Denmark
26 528
2.8
1 920
17 060
7 548
Germany
178 591
1.9
23 501
89 872
65 218
Estonia
2 202
15.5
25
1 710
467
Ireland
23 594
1.0
54
20 409
3 132
Greece
31 576
-5.2
5 215
20 408
5 953
Spain
159 771
-3.3
33 213
102 199
24 359
France
135 006
2.7
28 439
58 564
48 003
Croatia
5 423
8.7
461
:
:
Italy
116 067
-0.1
30 356
63 327
22 385
Cyprus
7 328
1.9
0
5 425
1 904
Latvia
4 755
-6.7
0
3 310
1 444
Lithuania
3 167
17.6
0
2 662
505
Luxembourg
1 894
3.1
1
1 527
366
Hungary
8 430
-5.1
-
7 103
1 327
Malta
3 650
4.1
0
3 248
402
Netherlands
55 680
3.3
2
32 621
23 057
Austria
25 966
3.3
635
17 173
8 158
Poland
21 791
5.6
1 770
15 352
4 669
Portugal
28 186
2.2
2 812
19 822
5 553
Romania
9 674
-0.1
656
7 792
1 226
Slovenia
1 168
-14.1
-
654
513
Slovakia
1 563
-13.5
30
1 207
327
Finland
16 459
0.5
2 721
10 014
3 724
Sweden
30 351
2.1
7 018
17 541
5 792
United Kingdom
203 067
0.8
20 779
115 783
66 504
Iceland***
2 741
11.3
-
-
-
Norway
34 590
6.8
14 782
-
-
Switzerland
43 236
4.3
633
-
-
-
*The Intra/Extra EU data refer to EU27, since Croatia, which joined the EU on 1 July 2013, was not a Member State at the time to which this data refer (2012).
** Double counting is excluded in the intra-EU and total aggregates by taking into consideration only departure declarations. The EU total excludes data for Croatia.
*** Data concern only Keflavik airport
-
:Data not available
-
-Not applicable
0 Less than 500 passengers recorded
Top airports* in the EU in terms of total passengers carried
1000's of passengers in 2012 and % growth 2012/2011
Rank
Airport
Total air transport
National
Intra-EU27**
Extra-EU27**
000s
Growth 2012/2011
000s
000s
000s
1
UK
London/Heathrow
69 983
0.9
4 726
23 394
41 863
2
FR
Paris/Charles de Gaulle
61 377
1.0
5 644
24 575
31 158
3
DE
Frankfurt/Main
57 261
1.8
6 484
22 074
28 703
4
NL
Amsterdam/Schiphol
50 988
2.6
0
28 341
22 647
5
ES
Madrid/Barajas
45 124
-8.9
14 415
18 105
12 605
6
DE
München
38 187
1.6
9 577
17 142
11 468
7
IT
Roma/Fiumicino
36 741
-1.8
11 811
15 102
9 828
8
ES
Barcelona
35 071
2.2
11 430
17 821
5 820
9
UK
London/Gatwick
34 213
1.7
3 825
20 557
9 831
10
FR
Paris/Orly
27 193
0.3
14 053
7 306
5 834
11
DK
København/Kastrup
23 222
2.7
1 796
14 520
6 905
12
ES
Palma de Mallorca
22 610
-0.4
5 558
15 727
1 326
13
AT
Wien/Schwechat
22 198
5.2
633
13 941
7 625
14
DE
Düsseldorf
20 800
2.5
4 521
9 702
6 577
15
SE
Stockholm/Arlanda
19 686
3.3
4 819
10 197
4 669
16
UK
Manchester
19 654
4.5
2 285
11 368
6 002
17
IE
Dublin
19 078
1.9
53
16 226
2 799
18
BE
Bruxelles/National
18 815
1.1
5
11 449
7 361
19
IT
Milano/Malpensa
18 329
-4.0
3 550
8 696
6 084
20
DE
Berlin/Tegel
18 149
7.4
7 185
7 342
3 622
21
UK
London/Stansted
17 461
-3.2
1 209
15 098
1 154
22
PT
Lisboa
15 315
3.4
1 941
9 043
4 331
23
FI
Helsinki/Vantaa
14 851
-0.1
2 692
8 556
3 603
24
DE
Hamburg
13 675
1.1
5 340
5 436
2 900
25
EL
Athens
12 865
-10.2
4 485
5 943
2 437
26
ES
Malaga
12 523
-1.9
2 403
9 178
941
27
FR
Nice/Côte d’Azur
11 178
7.4
4 343
4 851
1 984
28
CZ
Praha/Ruzyne
10 774
-8.1
50
7 456
3 268
29
DE
Stuttgart
9 678
1.5
2 955
4 331
2 393
30
ES
Gran Canaria
9 661
-6.6
3 933
4 750
978
32
PL
Warszawa/Chopina
9 606
2.7
1 523
5 507
2 576
39
HU
Budapest/Ferihegy
8 430
-5.1
-
7 103
1 327
46
RO
Bucuresti/Henri Coanda
7 089
41.0
584
5 414
1 091
58
CY
Larnaka
5 112
-5.9
0
3 592
1 520
62
LV
Riga
4 755
-6.7
0
3 310
1 444
80
MT
Malta/Luqa
3 651
4.1
1
3 248
402
85
BG
Sofia
3 456
-0.3
198
2 829
429
103
HR
Zagreb/Pleso
2 317
2.0
421
:
:
107
LT
Vilnius
2 206
29.1
0
1 795
411
110
EE
Tallinn/Lennart Meri
2 202
15.5
25
1 710
467
120
LU
Luxembourg
1 894
3.1
1
1 527
366
137
SK
Bratislava/M R Stefanik
1 358
-13.9
29
1 060
268
147
SI
Ljubljana/Brnik
1 168
-14.1
-
654
513
-
*The 30 busiest airports in 2012 in terms of total passengers carried and the top airport in each of the 13 Member States which have no airport among the top 30.
** The Intra/Extra EU data refer to EU27, since Croatia, which joined the EU on 1 July 2013, was not a Member State at the time to which this data refer (2012).
-
:Data not available
-
-Not applicable
0 Less than 500 passengers recorded
-
-Air passenger figures have been calculated excluding double counting of national and intra-EU passenger transport, i.e. not counting the same passengers twice, once reported by the origin airport as departures and once by the partner airport as arrivals. Since the EU aggregate excludes double counting on intra-EU traffic, Member States' figures do not add up to the EU aggregate. For example, a person flying from Paris to London will be counted in France as a ‘departure passenger’ and in the United Kingdom as an ‘arrival passenger’ but only once at EU level.
Air transport at airports in the Member States with a total transport of more than 150 000 passengers carried in 2012 is covered.
-
-Statistics Explained article on the Eurostat website:
Issued by: Eurostat Press Office
Louise CORSELLI-NORDBLAD
Tel: +352-4301-33 444
eurostat-pressoffice@ec.europa.eu
For further information on data:
Anna BIALAS-MOTYL
Tel: +352-4301-36 407
anna.bialas-motyl@ec.europa.eu
Eurostat news releases on the internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat
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