Passenger traffic at European airports returned to pre-COVID levels in the first half of the year as the sector finally "turned the corner" on the pandemic crisis, the main industry association said on Wednesday.

But the trade body warned that the recovery was uneven, with almost half of Europe's airports still below pre-pandemic levels.

Overall, passenger traffic rose nine percent in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, according to Airports Council International Europe.

Volume was nine percent higher than in the same period last year, lifting it to 0.4 percent above the first half of 2019, the year before the coronavirus outbreak that paralyzed economies and the aviation industry.

"As overall passenger traffic finally made it above 2019 levels over a full six-month period, our industry has now turned the corner on the pandemic," said ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec said.

International traffic has been the main growth driver this year, rising 10.3 percent in the first half compared to the same period last year. Domestic traffic was up 4.2 percent.

The figures "finally" confirm "a full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic for the airport industry", ACI Europe said in a statement.

The European airport market, however, has become "extremely fragmented", with only 53 percent of airports having fully recovered their pre-pandemic passenger volumes by June, Jankovec said.

Since the pandemic, leisure travel and family visits have been the driving force behind travel, benefitting low-cost airlines and holiday sites over traditional airlines and destinations serving business travelers.

Albania has seen the greatest increase, with its volume of air passengers rising 243 percent from the same period in 2019. Greece, Malta and Portugal also logged strong growth.

Air travel in German airports is still down 17 percent from before the pandemic, while France was down four percent and Britain 1.1 percent, hit by a growing preference for video conferences over business trips, and with domestic travel facing greater competition from train routes.

London Heathrow remains the largest airport in Europe with 39.8 million passengers in the first half, followed by Istanbul's international airport and Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle.

© 2024 AFP