Passenger traffic at Europe's airports fell in April for the first time ​since the post-COVID recovery five years ago, ‌reflecting disruption caused by the war with Iran, said European airport trade body ACI Europe on Thursday.

• ​ACI Europe's traffic report for April 2026 ​showed that passenger traffic across the European ⁠airport network fell by 0.7% compared to ​the same month last year.

• That decline ​marked the first year-on-year drop in passenger traffic since Europe's aviation sector recorded its first recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2021, ACI Europe added from Brussels.

• "While we were already seeing a normalisation of ‌passenger ⁠traffic growth after the strong post-pandemic bounce back, geopolitical instability—most notably the war in the Middle East—is now further weighing ​on growth ​and exposing ⁠significant differences in performance across markets," said ACI Europe director general ​Olivier Jankovec.

• The surge in oil ​prices ⁠resulting from the war in Iran has hit the global transport and aviation sectors.

• ADP, AENA, Fraport, and Flughafen Zürich are Europe's main airport companies listed on the stock market. 

Source: Reuters