Record passenger numbers in European skies: +100 million in 2025
In 2025, passenger traffic at European airports has marked a significant growth, with data collected by ACI EUROPE recording a +4.4% of passengers compared to the previous year and a total of about 2.6 billion Travellers, the new absolute record for the continent. This increase translates into more than 100 million more passengers than in 2024, with growth momentum further accelerating in the fourth quarter of the year (+6.1%).
Internazionale drives recovery
Traffic growth in 2025 was mainly driven by international traffic, which recorded +5.6%, while domestic traffic remained almost stable with a modest +0.2%. This dynamic reflects a recovering demand for cross-border travel, also driven by the return of tourist flows, new routes and the strong desire for international mobility of European passengers.
Performance for airport groups
The ACI EUROPE report highlights how growth was not homogeneous across all airports, but involved groups of airports of different sizes:
- Major airports (over 40 million passengers): the best performances in 2025 were recorded by Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport (+16.7%), Istanbul Airport (+5.5%), Barcelona-El Prat Airport (+4.4%), Munich Airport (+4.4%) and Rome Fiumicino Airport (+4.3%).
- Mega airports (25–40 million) and large airports (10–25 million) also showed solid growth in various countries, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.
Medium and Small airports (less than 10 million passengers) reported even more marked percentage increases, with some exceptional performance in the small airports segment, albeit starting from smaller traffic bases.
Performance of the busiest hubs
According to the ranking of the most important European airports by passenger traffic in 2025, the following results emerge:
- London Heathrow Airport – over 84.4 million passengers
- Istanbul Airport – approx. 84.5 million
- Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport – over 72 million
- Amsterdam Schiphol Airport – approx. 68.8 million
- Madrid-Barajas Airport – over 68.1 million
- Frankfurt Airport – over 63 million
- Barcelona-El Prat Airport – over 57 million
- Rome Fiumicino Airport – over 51 million
- Munich Airport – over 43 million
- Sheremetyevo International Airport – over 43 million
These figures confirm the stable presence of large European hubs in the global air transport ecosystem, with Fiumicino firmly ranking in the top ten for annual traffic.
Scenarios and prospects for 2026
The positive traffic trend in 2025 and the confirmation of international growth mark a return to pre-pandemic expansion dynamics for the airport sector in Europe. The strong performance of international flights and the significant contribution of small and medium-sized airports suggest that demand for air travel continues to consolidate.
According to global projections, global passenger traffic is expected to continue to grow in 2026, with estimates of over 10 billion passengers globally, indicating a picture of sustained demand and international dynamism.
