European airport passenger traffic remains resilient despite Middle East conflict

The latest ACI EUROPE traffic report for March and the first quarter of 2026 reveals continued resilience in passenger traffic across the European airport network, despite the impact of the conflict in the Middle East and growing uncertainty around fuel markets.

Overall, passenger traffic at European airports increased by +3.8% in March compared to the same month last year, broadly maintaining the momentum seen in February (+4.2%). Airports in the EU+ market outperformed the wider European average with growth of +4.1%, while traffic growth in the rest of Europe slowed to +2.6%, largely due to the severe impact of the conflict on Israeli airports.

Among the strongest-performing national markets within the EU+ area were Slovakia (+130.7%), Slovenia (+17%), Denmark (+13.8%), Malta (+12.5%) and Croatia (+10.8%). Italy (+4.8%) and Spain (+3.9%) led the major aviation markets, while Germany (+3.1%), the UK (+2.8%) and France (+1.2%) lagged behind the industry average.

Find out more, including freight performance, airport rankings and traffic analysis by airport size:

• PRESS RELEASE: European air passenger traffic expands by +3.8% in March despite Middle East conflict