Europe-Middle East aviation: flights still under half 2025 numbers in first week of Iran ceasefire
In the first week of the Iran war ceasefire, the week from 8-Apr-2026 to 14-Apr-2026, the number of flights between Europe and the Middle East recovered by 13% versus the previous week (source: EUROCONTROL).
However, Europe-Middle East movements remained 51.7% lower than the same week of 2025, just as they were in the last week of Mar-2026.
Total flight numbers to/from/within Europe were enjoying year-on-year growth in 2026 before the start of the Iran war. However, the heavy fall in Europe-Middle East traffic has fed through to a drop in overall Europe movements.
Increased flight numbers to Asia and Africa have not offset the Middle East cuts.
Europe's long haul airlines have likely gained on Europe-Asia as a result of the crumbling of Gulf carrier competition. However, the conflict in Iran has pushed the IMF into downward revisions to its world economic outlook, with Europe's GDP growth forecast particularly soft.
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