Decline in number of passengers flying in Europe

Monday 12 October 2009

The number of passengers flying from European airports declined by 4.5 per cent in August compared to the same month last year.

This is according to new Airports Council International (ACI) figures, which also revealed an 8.1 percent decrease in the accumulated figure for passenger traffic between January and August compared to the same period in 2008.

ACI director general Olivier Jankovec suggested that the recovery is passenger air traffic will happen, although it is likely to be a slow process.

"Fewer airports are recording decreases in passenger traffic: 70 percent this month, down from peaks in previous months reaching 93 percent," he explained.

"This is mainly due to low cost carriers helping to generate passenger growth at some locations."

Some airports did buck the trend however, with London Heathrow enjoying a passenger number increase of 0.2 percent between August 2008 and August 2009, while Athens recorded an impressive increase of 2.3 percent.

The ACI's figures for July revealed a passenger number decline in Europe of 13.4 percent compared to July 2008.