European airports - statistics & facts
Increasing demand for air travel and transport during the 1900s led to the establishment of first airports to facilitate the landing of an aircraft, enplanement for passengers and loading of cargo. In Europe, the first commercial airport opened in Hamburg in 1911. Since then, many more airports across European cities were built to advance the aviation industry and economy. In 2023, the number of passengers traveling by air in the European Union stood at some 976.4 million, a significant increase compared to the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. In that year, nearly 236 million passengers traveled by air in Spain, making it the largest airline passenger market in the EU, followed by Germany and Italy.
For example, revenue streams of LHR were down 62 percent in 2020, while passenger numbers plummeted from 80.9 million in 2019 to 22.1 million. However, in the last quarter of 2020, global air travel started to rebound, and London Heathrow Airport showed the first signs of recovery in 2021 and kept the increasing trend. As of 2023, the revenue of the airport registered a new peak of approximately 3.7 billion GBP over the given decade.
After the coronavirus pandemic trajectories
Since 2010, the global air traffic passenger demand has been increasing steadily with at least four percent per year. During the same period, European passenger traffic experienced an even higher development trend. Although one observes a steady positive growth path over the recent years, the aviation industry is not exempt from the influence of economic shocks. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a deep economic shock that affected the aviation industry severely. The European airports were particularly hit by the pandemic compared to the other regions in the world. During the first year of the outbreak, the commercial airlines in Europe lost 34.5 billion dollars. However, in the following years, the industry began to rebound again, and the first net profit was registered in 2022. The net profit of commercial airlines was expected to grow in the future and amount to 7.9 billion euros in 2024.Busiest airports in the EU – London Heathrow
Upon the expansion of London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in 2009, it was anticipated that the airport would become the largest passenger airport in Europe to meet the escalating demand for air travel. The projection proved to be accurate, as London Heathrow Airport ranked as the busiest airport in the European Union in recent years and in the year 2023. The airport faced numerous obstacles during the coronavirus outbreak, but it showed remarkable resilience in coping with the consequences of the pandemic.For example, revenue streams of LHR were down 62 percent in 2020, while passenger numbers plummeted from 80.9 million in 2019 to 22.1 million. However, in the last quarter of 2020, global air travel started to rebound, and London Heathrow Airport showed the first signs of recovery in 2021 and kept the increasing trend. As of 2023, the revenue of the airport registered a new peak of approximately 3.7 billion GBP over the given decade.
