Air connectivity in Europe remains 14% lower than in 2019, despite an almost full recovery in passenger traffic, according to the Airport Industry Connectivity Report 2024, by European airport trade body ACI Europe. Among the “winners” are Athens and Greece as a whole, which recorded an increase in connectivity compared to the pre-pandemic period.
The agency’s latest report, published recently, describes the improvement in connectivity in 2023, which was 16% below pre-pandemic levels, as “weak”, suggesting that geopolitical tensions and structural changes in the aviation market imply changes in connectivity.
However, connectivity in Greece appears to have increased by 22% and in Athens by 17%.
Among the countries recording an increase in connectivity are Turkey, with a slightly higher growth rate than Greece (+24%) and Albania with more than double the growth rate (+55%).
Meanwhile, connectivity in Europe’s largest holiday market, Spain, is just 2% lower and in neighbouring Portugal 4% higher, compared to 2019.
At the airport level, the biggest connectivity increases, after Athens, are at Palma airport in Mallorca and Lisbon airport in Portugal, up 8% and 3%, respectively.
The report assesses direct connectivity – i.e. direct flights and frequencies to destinations; indirect flights via hub airports and the overall connectivity of these and notes that connectivity in the EU is down 13%, compared to 2019, and to non-EU markets in Europe is down 20%.
However, air connectivity from the UK is down 12%, half the rate of decline in Germany (24%) and lower than France (15%), while connectivity from Heathrow airport is down just 2%.
The report notes that Heathrow “remains unrivalled for its direct connectivity to North America, which is almost double that of its competitor – Charles de Gaulle Airport, in Paris.
According to the European body, the war in Ukraine has annihilated the country’s air connections and reduced Russian ones, while Israel’s air connectivity remains 42% lower than in 2019 due to its war in Gaza.
But it reports that connectivity in Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe is down compared to 2019 – by 37% in Finland, 31% in Sweden, 29% in Slovenia and 28% in Austria and the Czech Republic.
The report ranks Istanbul Airport in first place in terms of connectivity, with connections up 9%, compared to 2019, with Amsterdam Airport Siphol in second place, with connections down 6% compared to 2019, and Heathrow in third, which is almost on par with Siphol.
However, Frankfurt Airport remains the best connected airport in the world, ahead of Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and Istanbul Airport, despite its connectivity being 23% lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe, described air connectivity as “essential” and said: “Policymakers need to address the factors that will shape Europe’s aviation connectivity, including climate action and airline consolidation.”
