Ireland Leads Way In EU Traffic Growth

Ireland is among the countries leading the rebound in EU air travel, ACI Europe said today.

In a wide ranging analysis, the organisation said that, following last year’s record-breaking year for Europe’s airports, growth during 2014 will be “less dynamic.”

And it warned that, in spite of a broad increase in passenger numbers, 44% of Europe’s airports are loss-making.

“2013 saw a progressive recovery of air traffic, with Europe’s airports welcoming an additional 50 million passengers and ultimately posting their highest passenger volume ever, with 1.66 billion passengers using their facilities.

“That traffic recovery has gathered further pace since the start of 2014, with passenger and freight traffic growing by 5.5% and 4.9% respectively. “This reflects much improved trading conditions on the back of economic growth generally gaining momentum across Europe.

“Significantly, the performance gap between EU airports and non-EU airports is now at its lowest since the 2008/2009 financial crisis – with most airports in Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus enjoying a rebound.”

However ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec said that beyond the positive headlines, there was still a lot of contrast in individual airport performance.

“As with any competitive industry, this is not a win-win for all. Several large airports have enjoyed a traffic boost this spring as low cost airlines are now clearly moving up market. However, these gains have often come at the expense of other secondary or regional airports.”

The organisation said that, with GDP growth in the EU set to remain moderate this year and because of economic circumstances in Russia, Turkey and China, European traffic growth was likely to be les dynamic in the coming months.

ACI Europe said it was now forecasting full year passenger growth of 3.5% and freight growth of 3%.