**European air traffic grew 2.6% in the first half of 2026**, according to ACI Europe, but the momentum is clearly fading. After a strong +4.3% in Q1, the second quarter slowed to just +1.3%, reflecting a more volatile environment shaped by the Middle East conflict, rising jet fuel prices, and capacity reductions by several carriers. Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe's Director General, stressed that geopolitics is increasingly shaping traffic performance this year, with demand remaining solid but supply-side shocks taking their toll.
A notable shift: for the first time since the post-COVID recovery, domestic traffic grew faster than international, at +3% versus +2.5%. This unusual pattern for a market traditionally driven by cross-border and hub connections highlights the rise of intra-European demand and the differentiated impact of regional crises on long-haul and transfer networks. Eurostat data cited in the report show that EU air transport already exceeded 2019 levels in 2025, confirming a structural but uneven recovery.
National disparities remain stark. Slovakia leads with +101.3%, followed by Malta (+15.6%) and Slovenia (+14.7%), while Iceland (-7.1%), Cyprus (-4.4%), and Austria (-2.6%) decline. Among major markets, Italy (+4.2%) and Spain (+3.7%) outperform, while France (+0.6%) and the UK (+0.4%) stagnate, and Germany falls to -1.2%. This geography underscores a trend since 2025: leisure destinations in Southern Europe and Central/Balkan platforms are more dynamic than traditional hubs, which face capacity constraints and airline network adjustments.
At the airport level, London Heathrow retains the top spot with 40 million passengers (+0.2%), closely followed by Istanbul (39.84 million, +1.6%). Paris CDG is nearly flat at -0.2%, while Amsterdam (-0.3%), Frankfurt (-0.8%), and Munich (-4.2%) underperform. Mid-sized airports (10-25 million passengers) grew 3.9%, and smaller ones (1-10 million) rose 3.7%, with the smallest airports seeing the strongest growth at +8.6%—though they remain 33.2% below pre-pandemic levels.
Cargo traffic rose 0.7% in H1, still 11.2% above 2019, but aircraft movements increased only 1% and remain 1.5% below pre-crisis levels, indicating a shallow operational recovery. ACI Europe also warned about the upcoming Schengen Entry/Exit System, which could cause queues and disruptions, urging immediate implementation to preserve Europe's attractiveness as an efficient and welcoming destination.