site.btaBulgaria among EU Member States with Lowest Increase in Number of Air Passengers in 2024

Bulgaria was among the EU Member States with the lowest increase in the number of air passengers in 2024, according to Eurostat data made public on Monday. In 2024, the total number of passengers travelling by air in the EU was 1.1 billion, an increase of 8.3% compared with 2023 (973 million). 

Data show that in 2024, all EU Member States registered an increase in the number of passengers carried by air compared with 2023. Hungary (+19.2%), Czechia (+18.9%) and Estonia (+17.8%) reported the largest increases, while the lowest ones were in Sweden (+1.3%), Bulgaria (+3.8%) and France and Ireland (both +4.6%).

Total air freight and mail transport in the EU saw an increase of 8.7% in 2024 compared with 2023. It was driven by a 10.8% growth in extra-EU transport, while intra-EU transport was almost stable at +0.1% and domestic transport fell by 4.3%. 

At the national level, Hungary (+65.9%), Czechia (+43.7%) and Greece (+36.7%) recorded the highest increases, while only Poland (-3.6%) and Latvia (-2.7%) registered declines.

In 2024, among the ten EU airports recording the biggest numbers of passengers carried were Paris/Charles de Gaulle, with 70.3 million passengers (+4.3%), Amsterdam/Schiphol, 66.8 million passengers (+8.0%), Madrid/Barajas, 66.1 million (+9.9%), Frankfurt/Main, 61.5 million (+3.7%) and Barcelona/El Prat, which recorded 54.9 million (+10.3%).  

Roma/Fiumicino placed sixth with 48.7 million passengers, but saw the highest increase among the top ten airports (+20.8%). Athinai/Eleftherios Venizelos moved ahead and replaced Paris-Orly in 2024, securing the tenth place thanks to a significant passenger growth compared with 2023 (+19.6%).