The FINANCIAL — In 2015, 918.3 million passengers travelled by air in the European Union (EU), up by 4.7% compared with 2014 and by 22.0% compared with 2009. Over this period, air passenger transport has steadily risen in the EU.
In 2015, intra-EU transport represented 45.2% of total air passenger transport in the EU, followed by extra-EU transport (37.2%), while national transport accounted for fewer than 1 in every 5 passengers (17.6%).
On the EU territory in 2015, 155 people were killed in commercial air transport accidents with EU aircraft. Since 2009, 211 persons were killed.
Largest increase in air passenger transport in Slovakia and Romania
In 2015, one in four air passengers was recorded in the United Kingdom, where total air passenger transport amounted to 232 million. It was followed by Germany (194 million passengers), Spain (175 mn), France (141 mn) and Italy (128 mn). The number of air passengers carried in 2015 rose in all EU Member States compared with 2014. The largest increases were registered in Slovakia (+16.3%) and Romania (+15.3%), followed by Hungary (+13.0%), Poland (+12.4%), Ireland (+12.3%), Lithuania (+11.3%) and Portugal (+10.6%). In contrast, the lowest increases were observed in Bulgaria (+1.2%), Austria (+1.4%) and Finland (+1.8%). Overall in the EU, the number of air passengers rose by 4.7% between 2014 and 2015, notably driven by the rise in intra-EU transport (+7.3%).
London/Heathrow, Paris/Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt/Main: top 3 passenger airports in the EU
London/Heathrow remained the EU’s busiest passenger airport in 2015, with 75.0 million passengers handled, slightly up (+2.2%) compared with 2014. Paris/Charles de Gaulle (65.7 mn, +3.2%), Frankfurt/Main (60.9 mn, +2.5%) and Amsterdam/Schiphol (58.2 mn, +5.8%) were the second, third and fourth busiest airports, followed at a distance by Madrid/Barajas (46.3 mn, +11.4%), München (40.9 mn, +3.3%), London/Gatwick (40.3 mn, +5.7%), Roma/Fiumicino (40.2 mn, +5.2%) and Barcelona/El Prat (39.4 mn, +5.4%). Each of the top 30 airports registered an increase in the number of passengers handled in 2015, except Milano/Malpensa (-1.2%). The highest rises among the top 30 airports were registered in Athens (+19.1%) and London/Luton (+17.0%), ahead of Dublin (+14.9%), London/Stansted (+12.9%), Madrid/Barajas (+11.4%) and Lisbon (+10.8%).
As in 2014, London/Heathrow (44.0 million) handled in 2015 the most passengers on extra-EU transport, Amsterdam/Schiphol (33.4 mn) the most on intra-EU transport and Paris/Orly (14.0 mn) the most on national transport.
Discussion about this post