Flying high: What are Europe’s fastest growing airports?

Following a blockbuster 2024 with more than one billion passengers in the EU alone, 2025 is shaping up to be an even better year for the continent’s aviation sector.

In the first half, passenger volumes in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and the UK rose by 4.3%, according to Airports Council International (ACI), an organisation of airport authorities.

Central Europe claims the title of the fastest-growing region, driven by significant passenger volume increases in Slovakia (19%), Poland (15%), and Hungary (14%), compared to the first half of 2024.

Outside the EU, increases are even more striking: +49% in Moldova, +31% in Bosnia-Herzegovina, +27% in Israel and +17% in Kosovo.

On the other hand, Sweden came in last place, shrinking by 0.9%, while Estonia (+0.2%), Iceland (+1.4%) and Luxembourg (+1.4%) saw some of the weakest growth rates.

Which airports saw the largest surge in passenger volumes?

The surge is being driven by large (10-25 million passengers) and medium-sized airports (1-10 million), both 5.4% up in the first six months of 2025.

Italy’s Trieste, one of the main gateways to Venice, had the largest growth across any country and airport size with +32%, followed by another medium-sized airport: Bournemouth, in the UK (+25%), and Lithuania’s Kaunas (+21%).

The top 15 is dominated by Poland, with four airports making the list, and Italy, with three. The smallest town featured in the top 15 is Memmingen, in Germany’s deep south, with a population of just under 50,000.

ACI said passenger volume growth in medium-sized cities was also driven by the expansion of low-cost carriers.

Rome’s Da Vinci and Milan Malpensa lead Italy’s airport growth

When it comes to the biggest airports, handling over 40 million passengers a year, Rome Fiumicino-Leonardo Da Vinci (+6.5%) posted the strongest 2025 result in the EU so far.

Last year, Fiumicino also reported the highest growth rate among Europe’s 10 busiest airports: +21%.

As Rome grows, Milan isn’t staying on the sidelines. The city’s airport of Malpensa reported the top H1 2025 result in the 25-40 million passenger segment, +11%, with more growth potential with the upcoming 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

Which airport dominates overall passenger flows in Europe?

When it comes to overall passenger numbers, London Heathrow is set to remain, once again, the busiest of all European airports.

The British hub handled 40 million people in the first six months of 2025 alone and, with its current 0.2% growth rate, could surpass its 2024 record by the end of the year.

Last year, Heathrow saw84 million passengers, basically the same size as the entire population of Germany.

It was followed, in Europe, by Paris-Charles de Gaulle, with 70 million travellers, Amsterdam-Schiphol (67 million) and Madrid Barajas (66 million).

More flights, fewer delays? What’s the current rate?

Eurocontrol reports an increase in flights in the first nine months of 2025 compared to 2024 — +3.3% across the broader European continent, including Iceland, Turkey, Georgia and Armenia.

But the general punctuality performance remains below the EU target of 0.9 minutes of delay per flight, standing at 1.88 minutes, the organisation says.

Yet, summer 2025 appeared to be better than 2024, with only 16 days where the average delay per flight was above the EU target, compared to 35 last year.