Passenger traffic at the airports of Cyprus decreased by 1.5% in August 2026, compared to the same month last year, while the European airport network recorded an increase of 3.1%. According to ACI EUROPE, Cyprus is among the weakest performing markets, despite the overall strengthening of demand for air travel during the summer season.
The report, published on 30 September, records marked divergences between national markets. In the EU+ group, in addition to Cyprus, Iceland (-9.3%), Austria (-6%), France (-1.7%), Norway (-0.3%) and Germany (-0.2%) showed a decline.
Overall, in Europe, passenger traffic increased by 3.9% in July and 3.1% in August, accelerating from the second quarter of 2026, when growth was limited to 1.3% under the influence of the war in the Middle East.
Resilient demand, but increasing pressures
ACI EUROPE Director General Olivier Jankovec said the summer recovery shows that demand remains resilient, despite geopolitical tensions, worsening macroeconomic conditions, supply constraints and more expensive tickets.
"For Europeans, holidays and visits to friends and family remain a priority, while our continent remains a magnet for travellers from all over the world," he said.
He warned, however, that overall growth rates mask significant differences, as geopolitical developments increasingly affect the performance of individual markets.
For the winter season, ACI EUROPE foresees pressures from fuel costs and increases in air tickets. According to Jankovec, airlines are already limiting available capacity and raising prices to compensate for higher energy costs.
"The re-emergence of the cost-of-living crisis across Europe will test the resilience of demand," he noted, referring to a more uncertain outlook and intensifying competitive pressures for airports.
The markets that stood out
In the EU+ market, passenger traffic increased by 3.4% in July and 2.5% in August. The strongest performances in August were recorded by Slovakia (+61%), Slovenia (+19.3%), Estonia (+16.4%), Hungary (+13%) and Malta (+12.3%).
Among the largest markets, Italy and Spain saw growth of 5.2% and 4.7% respectively, boosted by leisure travel. The United Kingdom limited itself to an increase of 0.9%, recording, together with France and Germany, a performance lower than the European average.
At non-EU+ airports, the increase was strongest, reaching 6.6% in July and 6% in August.
Double-digit growth rates in August were recorded by North Macedonia (+34.8%), Montenegro (+28.6%), Albania (+20.7%), Israel (+19.5%), Armenia (+14.2%), Moldova (+12.6%) and Uzbekistan (+10.5%). Turkey, the largest market of this group, recorded a rise of 4.4%.
Constantinople is the first, retreat to Heathrow and Paris
Istanbul Airport was the busiest in Europe in the summer, serving 8.6 million passengers in August, up 3%.
This was followed by London Heathrow, with 7.9 million passengers and a decrease of 2.1%, and Charles de Gaulle in Paris, with 6.9 million and a decline of 1.1%.
In the category of largest airports, with more than 40 million passengers, the overall increase in August was 1.3%. Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen (+9.5%), Madrid (+4.9%) and Barcelona (+4.5%) stood out.
In contrast, Gatwick fell by 3.4%, while Schiphol (+0.1%), Frankfurt (-0.3%) and Munich (-0.5%) moved close to last year's levels.
In the category of airports with 25–40 million passengers, traffic increased by 0.8%. The best performers were recorded by Malaga and Stanstedt, both with an increase of 6.5%, Athens with an increase of 3.7%, Copenhagen (+3.6%) and Manchester (+2.7%).
Greater dynamics at medium-sized airports
Airports with 10–25 million passengers and those with 1–10 million recorded the strongest performance, with an increase of 4.8% and 5.2% respectively.
According to ACI EUROPE, the rise was mainly due to the selective expansion of low-cost airlines and, to a lesser extent, new transatlantic connections.
In the first category, Tirana (+20.7%), Tel Aviv (+19.5%), Tashkent (+16.6%), Ankara (+13.3%) and Venice (+12.7%) stood out.
Among medium-sized airports, high growth rates were recorded in Bratislava (+75.9%), Trapani (+52.3%), Podgorica (+47.6%), Skopje (+34.8%) and Palermo (+32.3%).
Small airports, with less than one million passengers, recorded an increase of 4.2%. They remained, however, the only category with traffic 25.5% lower than in August 2019, before the pandemic. ACI EUROPE links lag to supply constraints and airlines' preference for larger and more profitable purchases.
The highest increases in the category were recorded at Logronio–Agoconthillo (+598.3%), Stockholm BMA (+502.9%), Saint-Gallen–Altenrain (+116.4%), Bucharest Baneasa (+83.6%) and Debrecen (+59.2%) airports.
Decline in freight traffic
Freight traffic fell by 6.1% in August, after a marginal increase of 0.3% in July.
Among the ten largest European cargo airports, Istanbul recorded the strongest growth in August (+18.1%) and ranked first in absolute terms. Brussels (+8.6%) and Amsterdam (+7.6%) also recorded an increase.
Aircraft movements on the European network increased by 2.7% in July and 2.2% in August.
