Number of Passengers Travelling by Air in EU Increased by 35% In 2021 Compared to 2020

According to Eurostat, around 373 million passengers travelled by plane in the EU in 2021, registering a sharp increase compared to 2020, during which the number of air travellers dropped due to the Coronavirus restrictions, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

“In 2021, the total number of passengers travelling by air in the EU was 373 million, a substantial increase of 35 per cent compared with 2020, after the strong decline of 73 per cent (compared with 2019) due to pandemic restrictions,” the statement of Eurostat reads.

Compared to the pre-pandemic figures, when travellers were not subject to travel restrictions, and the total number of passengers reached 1.04 billion, data provided by Eurostat have shown that in 2021 the number of passengers using air transport dropped by 64 per cent. Such a number indicated that the recovery of air travel was far away.

Of all the EU countries, data provided by Eurostat have shown that in 2021, except for Finland, each one registered an increase in the number of passengers that decided to travel by air.

The highest increase in the number of air passengers was registered by Croatia (+129 per cent), Cyprus (+105 per cent), Greece (+86 per cent), Latvia (+17 per cent), Sweden (+16 per cent), and Ireland (+ten per cent). In contrast, Finland registered a 16 per cent decrease.

Regarding the Extra-EU passenger transport, Eurostat revealed that it represented 39 per cent of the total air passenger transport in 2021. The same said that intra-EU transport represented 38 per cent, whereas national transport represented 23 per cent.

As for the list of the top five EU airports, Eurostat said that in 2021 the list remained the same as in 2020. The top five EU airports for 2021 were Paris/Charles de Gaulle with 26.2 million passengers, Amsterdam/Schiphol with 25.5 million passengers, Frankfurt/Main with 24.8 million passengers, Madrid/Barajas with 23.2 million passengers, and Barcelona/El Prat with 18.5 million passengers.

In addition to the above-mentioned, it has been noted that Spain’s Palma de Mallorca airport registered the highest growth compared to 2020. The airport registered a 137 per cent increase and was followed by Paris-Orly in France with a 46 per cent increase and Athinai/Eleftherios Venizelos in Greece with a 52 per cent increase.