EU Commercial Flight Volume Remains Below Pre-Pandemic Levels, Eurostat Reports
According to a report from the European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, the number of commercial flights in the EU during the period from June to September remained lower than the levels observed in 2019, before the onset of pandemic-related travel restrictions.
In September, there were a total of 605,806 commercial flights within the EU, representing a 7.9% increase compared to the same month the previous year. However, this figure was still 8.9% below the number of flights recorded in September 2019.
Similar trends were observed for the months of June, July, and August, with year-over-year improvements in flight volume but all figures falling short of pre-pandemic levels.
Notably, in September, six EU countries reported higher traffic volumes than in 2019. These included popular holiday destinations such as Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Croatia, and Malta, as well as Ireland. In contrast, countries like Finland, Estonia, and Latvia, which share borders with Russia, continued to experience flight volumes more than 25% below 2019 levels.
The Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, representing European airports, anticipates a full recovery in commercial flight volumes to take place in the coming year.
