Commercial flights in EU in 2022 still below 2019 levels
In 2022, the number of commercial flights in the European Union was still below the pre-pandemic number of 2019, EU statistics agency Eurostat said on March 10.
The most substantial falls in the number of commercial flights were recorded in January (-34 per cent compared with the same month in 2019), February (-33 per cent), March (-27 per cent) and April (-19 per cent).
As the year progressed, a more significant recovery was recorded, with falls between 14 per cent and 16 per cent recorded between May and December 2022. The most significant recoveries were recorded in August and October (both -14 per cent), Eurostat said.
Among the EU members, Greece was the only country that recorded more flights than in 2019 (+1 per cent).
Other countries were close to full recovery, such as Portugal (-4 per cent compared with 2019), Luxembourg (-8 per cent) and Croatia (-9 per cent).
At the other end of the scale, the countries that showed the least signs of recovery were Slovenia (-41 per cent), Czechia (-35 per cent), Finland (-33 per cent) and Sweden (-31 per cent).
In 2022, a majority of EU airports were still registering decreases in the number of commercial flights compared with 2019, Eurostat said.
The airports that were furthest from recovery compared with 2019 were Frankfurt/Main (-131 723 commercial flights less than in 2019, -33 per cent), München (-130 715, -17 per cent) Düsseldorf (-84 542, -33 per cent), København/Kastrup (-60 520, -38 per cent) and Brussels (-55 824, -45 per cent).
(Photo: Pablo Barrios)
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