Airports celebrate 20 years since EU enlargement
On 1 May 2004, ten countries joined the European Union as newly minted Member States, including Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Two decades after this EU expansion, air connectivity and traffic data point to tangible benefits of enhanced cohesion and integration.
New analysis from ACI EUROPE shows the effect this has had on connectivity, travellers and overall demand for air travel. Joining the EU has played a pivotal role in the growth of air travel in accession countries, resulting in fast expanding air connectivity and a much higher growth rate compared to EU15 (initial EU Member States) countries.
Findings include:
- Direct air connectivity of the 10 new accession Member States (A10) increased by 85% since accession
- Air travellers surged by +215% in accession countries between 2004-2019
- By 2019, the ratio of population to air passengers in A10 countries decreased to 59, compared to 2.31 pre-accession.
A full analysis is available in ACI EUROPE’s press release here.
