Air passenger transport - data by month

Data extracted on 30 September 2025.

Planned article update: 15 January 2026.

Highlights

Between January and March 2025, there were 814 million air passengers carried in the EU, an 5.1% increase compared to the same period in 2024.

In the first 3 months of 2025, air passenger transport increased in 24 of the 27 EU countries compared with the same period in 2024.

Source: European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) (avia_tf_cm)

This article describes the recent monthly development of commercial air flights and passenger transport by air in the European Union (EU), as well as in the EFTA countries Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and in the Candidate countries Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye. A distinction is made between national (domestic), intra and extra-EU transport, while looking at the evolution of airport traffic.

Recovery in the number of commercial flights continued in the first 3 months of 2025

To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, since the beginning of 2020, countries around the world have taken a variety of restrictive travel measures that severely hit the air travel industry. Starting from the second half of 2021, restrictive measures were gradually removed, encouraging people to travel by air again and thus impacting commercial air traffic.

In 2025, there were visible signs of recovery that were repeated in each month of 2024 and 2025, where small decreases were registered in the total number of commercial flights (passengers, freight and mail) in the EU compared with the same month in 2019 (Figure 1). In the first 6 months of 2024, the recovery continued with smaller decreases compared with the same month in 2019: from 13.5% in January 2025 to 4.7% in June 2024. Starting from July 2024, decrease below 6% were registered for all months in 2024. The decrease in terms of commercial flights reached the bottom in October 2024 with a decrease of only 2.8% compared with the same month in 2019. In the first 3 months of 2024, January registered the biggest decrease of 2025 with 13.5%, while decrease under 10% were registered for February and March.

Figure 1: Commercial air flights, EU, January 2024 - March 2025
Source: European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) (avia_tf_cm)

In the first 3 months of 2025, there were 208 million air passengers carried at EU level, a 5.1% increase compared with the same period in 2024

Starting in January 2024, during when 61.8 million passengers were carried, the number of passengers has increased steadily every month (Figure 2). The highest growths were observed between February and March (+18.3%), and March to April (+14.2%). Between April and July, stable increases of around 10% were registered each month. Passenger traffic reached its peak in August 2023, with 113 million passengers carried, before 3 consecutive decreases between August and September (-8.6%), September and October (-6.5%), October and November (-26.1%). In the first quarter of 2025, the biggest increase registered was between February and March 2024 (+17.2%).

During the first 3 months of 2025, 208 million passengers were carried at EU level, a 5.1% growth compared with the same period of 2024. International extra-EU transport accounted for’ 50.6% of all passengers carried at EU level in the first 3 months of 2025, while international intra-EU and national transport shares were 34.2% and 15.2% respectively. Compared with the same period in 2024, extra-EU transport experienced significant growth of 6.2%, followed by intra-EU transport (+5.3%) and national transport (+1.3%).

Figure 2: Air passengers transport, EU, January 2024 - March 2025
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoc)

Figure 3 shows that passenger transport registered an increase in every month of 2024 and 2025 compared with the same month of the previous year. January, February and March 2024 registered again large increases compared with the same month of 2023, with the largest increase observed in February (+13.0%). Since July 2024, the increase has remained stable, around 7.0% for each month. A similar trend was observed in the first 3 months of 2025, with shares of 7.0% in January, 4.7% in February and 3.8% in March.

Figure 3: Air passengers transport, EU, January 2024 - March 2025
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoc)

All EU countries continue to register increasing numbers of air passenger transport in the first 3 months of 2025 compared with the same period of 2024

The number of passengers carried by air increased in all EU countries in the first 3 months of 2025, compared with the same period of 2024. The largest increase was recorded for Slovakia (16.0%). Four EU countries recorded an increase between 12% and 15%: Hungary (14.9%), Malta (13.9%), Lithuania (12.6%) and Poland (12.1%). Three further EU countries recorded an increase of more than 10%: Greece, Croatia and Bulgaria. Three small decreases were recorded for Slovenia, Sweden and Ireland. The smallest increase was recorded for Austria (+0.9%), followed by Germany (+2.1%) and Netherlands (+2.3%). All of this confirms that air passenger transport is on a strong recovery path from the COVID-19 pandemic. Spain carried the highest number of passengers in the first quarter of 2025 with 52.8 million passengers, followed by Germany (37.7 million) and Italy (36.0 million).

Table 1: Air passengers transport, EU, January 2024 - March 2025
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoc)

26 airports of the top 30 EU airports showed signs of recovery in the first 3 months of 2025

Table 2 presents the evolution of air passenger transport in the top 30 EU airports. The airports were ranked according to the total annual number of passengers carried in 2024. Paris Charles de Gaulle airport maintained the first position in the ranking for the entire period from January 2024 to March 2025.

26 airports in the top 30 registered an increase in the first 3 months of 2025, compared with the same period of 2023. The largest increase recorded was for Budapest/Liszt Ferenc International (+15.7%), followed by Alicante (+14.7%), Milano/Malpensa (+12.5%), Warszawa/Chopina (+12.4%), and Athinai/Eleftherios Venizelos (+11.4%). Seven additional airports recorded an increase of more than 5%. The lowest increases were for Hamburg (+0.7%), Lisboa (+1.4%) and Wien-Schwechat (+1.5%).

Table 2: Top 30 EU airports, EU, January 2024 - March 2025
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoa)

Source data for tables and graphs

Air passenger transport statistics

Data sources

Definition of 'passengers carried'

All passengers on a particular flight are counted once only and not repeatedly on each individual stage of that flight. This excludes direct transit passengers.

Exclusion of double counting

The national transport (included in total transport at country level) and intra-EU transport aggregates (included in total transport at EU level) were calculated by taking into account only departure declarations so as to exclude double counting.

Context

The content of this statistical article is based on data collected within the framework of the air transport statistics Regulation (EC) No 437/2003 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air.

Explore further

Database

Transport, see detailed datasets:

Air transport (avia)

Air transport measurement - passengers (avia_pa)

Air transport measurement - freight and mail (avia_go)

Thematic section

Transport

Publications

Selected datasets

Transport, see selected datasets:

Air transport (t_avia)

Air transport of passengers (ttr00012)

Air transport of goods (ttr00011)

Methodology

Passenger and freight transport by air/Traffic data/Air transport at regional level (ESMS metadata file — avia_pa_esms)
Reference Manual on Air Transport Statistics - Version 17 (Methodological manual)
Glossary for transport statistics - 5th edition - 2019

External links

Legislation

The basic legal act was amended by: