Europe’s airports welcomed 7% more pax in Aug-2014, driven mostly by LCCs

ACI Europe reported (06-Oct-2014) passenger traffic at European airports increased 7.0% year-on-year in Aug-2014, with traffic at EU airports increasing 6.6%. The trade body noted that passenger traffic at non-EU airports (including Iceland, Israel, Norway, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey), still had the edge, reporting an 8.2% growth. Freight traffic increased 3.3% and aircraft movements increased 3.4%. Commenting on the results, director general Olivier Jankovec said, "a key factor [to the traffic growth] has been airlines adding more capacity, as evidenced by the increase in aircraft movements - which on a monthly basis was the strongest since 2011. Most of it was driven by Low Cost Carriers, which are reinforcing their presence in primary markets - occasionally at the expense of secondary and smaller regional airports." He added "EU airports generally fared extremely well, while non-EU airport traffic was affected by geopolitical conditions with a slump in passenger traffic at Ukrainian airports and, to a lesser extent, in Israel. It is worth noting that the increase in freight traffic is entirely due to EU airports, as it was completely flat at non-EU airports - mainly due to a sharp decrease at Russian airports as a result of the EU sanctions imposed on Russia." Adding a note of caution, Mr Jankovec concluded "With the Eurozone stalled in its economic recovery and no end in sight for the current geopolitical tensions, there are serious doubts as to the ability of European air traffic to keep defying economic gravity in the coming months." The trade body also noted the following airports with notable growth: Moscow Domodedovo (+13.2%), Moscow Sheremetyevo (+11.2%), Istanbul Ataturk (+11.0%), Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (+25.6%), Hamburg (+18.8%), Brussels (+18.7%), Lisbon (+15.2%), Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (+16.4%), Naples (+16.2%), Larnaca (+13.9%), Lanzarote (+12.1%), Berlin Schoenefeld (+11.4%). [more - original PR]