The Athens International Airport (AIA) gained a spot in the top ten airports in the European Union regarding passenger traffic in the European Union (EU) in 2024, according to the bloc’s statistical authority, Eurostat.
The Athens International Airport toppled the famous Paris Orly Airport from the top ten list. According to the Eurostat data, Paris Charles de Gaulle led with 70.3 million passengers, up 4.3%. Amsterdam Schiphol followed with 66.8 million passengers (+8.0%), Madrid Barajas with 66.1 million (+9.9%), Frankfurt Main with 61.5 million (+3.7%), and Barcelona El Prat with 54.9 million (+10.3%).
Rome Fiumicino ranked sixth with 48.7 million passengers and posted the strongest growth among the top 10—up 20.8%. Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” entered the top tier, replacing Paris Orly and securing 10th place thanks to a sharp 19.6% rise in passenger traffic compared with 2023.
Overall, 1.1 billion passengers traveled by air in the EU in 2024, an 8.3% increase from 2023’s 973 million. Every EU member state reported growth in air passenger numbers. Hungary (+19.2%), the Czech Republic (+18.9%) and Estonia (+17.8%) recorded the steepest gains, while Sweden (+1.3%), Bulgaria (+3.8%) and both France and Ireland (+4.6%) posted the smallest increases.
Air freight and mail volumes also climbed, rising 8.7% in 2024 from the previous year. The increase was driven by a 10.8% jump in extra-EU traffic, while intra-EU volumes were nearly flat (+0.1%) and domestic shipments declined 4.3%.
At the national level, Hungary (+65.9%), the Czech Republic (+43.7%) and Greece (+36.7%) registered the biggest increases in air cargo and mail, while only Poland (-3.6%) and Latvia (-2.7%) recorded declines.
