Croatia leads EU air passenger traffic growth in 2021 - Eurostat

Passenger traffic by air in the EU as a whole rose by 35% compared to 2020 to reach 373 million, following an annual plunge of 73% in 2020 due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Eurostat said in a data release.

Greece recorded the third-largest growth in air passenger numbers last year, of 86% to some 32.2 million.

Elsewhere in Southeast Europe, Romania and Slovenia also posted increases above the EU average, of around 57% and 46% respectively.

Bulgaria registered the smallest rise out of the five EU member states in SEE, of 35% to 5.05 million passengers, still slightly above the EU average in terms of growth rate.

Finland was the only EU country where air passenger numbers declined on the year in 2021, by 16%, reaching 4.55 million.

Passengers from non-EU countries accounted for 39% of overall air passenger numbers in 2021, while individual domestic travel represented 23% and travel between EU member countries made up 38% of the total.

Recovery is still some way away, as the number of passengers travelling by air in 2021 was still 64% lower than that in the pre-pandemic 2019, when they reached a total of 1.04 billion, Eurostat noted.

Athens was the only airport in SEE represented in the top 10 by number of passengers served. Greece's main airport came eighth with a 52% traffic rise, in a list topped by Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and Frankfurt Main.

Frankfurt was also the main European airport in terms of cargo and mail, with 2.3 million tonnes handled.