Data released by Airports Council International (ACI Europe) for 2021 shows that Istanbul airport was the busiest European airport for the second year running.
The Turkish hub – which last week was temporarily closed due to heavy snowfall – was followed by Moscow Sheremetyevo, Paris CDG, Amsterdam Schiphol and Moscow Domodedovo.
However figures also show a shifting in the “Top 5 league” as travel restrictions eased towards the end of last year, with London Heathrow moving up to third position for December 2021 (behind Istanbul and Paris CDG) – helped by the reopening of transatlantic markets.
Istanbul airport’s full year traffic for 2021 was down 46 per cent on pre-pandemic 2019 levels, although it fared better than Paris CDG (down 65.6 per cent), Amsterdam Schiphol (down 64.4 per cent) and Heathrow (down 76 per cent).
ACI Europe also said that smaller regional airports have been recovering at a faster pace since last summer compared to larger airports, reflecting that fact that “beyond the transatlantic market, many intercontinental markets remain de facto closed due to severe travel restrictions and that the recovery remains largely driven by leisure and ‘Visiting Friends and Relatives’ travel on intra-European and domestic markets”.
A handful of “insular regional airports and others attracting low-cost/leisure carriers” managed to increase traffic in December 2021 compared to the same period in 2019 – namely Ajaccio airport in Corsica which achieved an increase in traffic of 46.4 per cent, Hammerfest airport in Norway (up 8.9 per cent), and Calvi airport in Corsica (up 8 per cent).
Commenting on the outlook for the months ahead, Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, said:
“Uncertainties as to the evolution of the pandemic remain significant and limit visibility beyond a few months, at best.
“For now, the impact of Omicron is still very much on us as airlines keep pulling out flights and capacity in response to weakened demand in what is already traditionally a low season.
“This means the first quarter will be disappointing, but that we should hopefully see traffic take a better turn as Spring approaches.
“Whether this happens earlier depends on the pace at which travel restrictions can be lifted, now that Omicron is prevalent. A number of countries are moving in that direction, but much more needs to be done.”
