Despite not reaching pre-pandemic levels, the number of flights in the EU increased by nearly 6% last year. But is it the only challenge aviation is facing?
ADVERTISEMENT
In 2024, 6.7 million flights transporting passengers, goods and mail were registered in the EU.
This reflects a 5.8% increase compared to 2023, according to the latest Eurostat figures.
However, the number of flights is still below the levels seen before the pandemic in 2019.
The highest number of commercial flights in 2024 was recorded at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands, with 484,000 flights in total.
This was followed by Paris' Charles de Gaulle in France with 463,000 flights and Frankfurt/Main in Germany with 437,000 flights.
Among the 10 airports with the largest number of commercial flights, Athens in Greece had the highest percentage of non-scheduled flights - for example, charter flights - at 5.5%, followed by Vienna in Austria at 4.6%, and Madrid in Spain at 4.5%.
June, July, and August experienced the highest numbers of non-scheduled flights, accounting for 10.3%, 10.7%, and 10.1% of total flights, respectively.
While low-cost and mainline carriers had an identical share of total flights in 2024 as they did in 2019, the low-cost market post-pandemic was faster.
According to Eurocontrol's latest report, the Ryanair Group operated 3,044 daily flights in 2024, which represents an 8% increase from 2023.
The Lufthansa Group followed with 2,712 daily flights, marking a 5% increase from the previous year.
Is climate change the next aviation challenge?
In 2024, the EU experienced severe weather events, including floods in Spain and Germany, as well as wildfires wildfires in Greece and Portugal.
As weather hazards are predicted to increase in the coming decades, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency is assessing aviation adaptation and resilience to climate change.
This year's European Aviation Environmental report named key climate effects on commercial air transport.
More frequent heatwaves and changing exposure to dust and sandstorms from the Sahara, especially in Southern Europe, have heightened the need for improved cooling systems for brakes.
These conditions also raise the risk of engine failures during flight and potential electronic equipment malfunctions.
Meanwhile, the rising frequency of storms with extreme wind speeds in northern and central Europe can also mean an increased risk of damage to the aircraft or its engines, which would require an emergency landing.
"Quite aside from the safety aspect, the impact of extreme weather events is jeopardising the resilience of our infrastructure, as well as having a knock‑on effect on airport capacity — an increasingly scarce resource here in Europe, which needs to be maintained and protected accordingly," Alexandre de Joybert, Director of Sustainability at the ACI Europe said. "Fundamentally, this is about safeguarding connectivity and the socioeconomic benefits that depend on it."