In this piece, we will take a look at the 15 largest airports in Europe. If you want to skip our overview of the global travel, tourism, and aviation industries, then you can skip the ten largest airports in Europe to directly check out the 5 Largest Airports in Europe.
The global travel industry is finally finding some room to breathe after a tough handful of years in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. A black swan event, the pandemic decimated global air travel and other sectors such as the cruise ship industry, to such an extent that airlines were forced to fly empty aircraft in order to maintain access to routes, and a few passengers that did manage to take international flights could hope to stay at luxurious establishments free of cost.
Since then, global air travel has continued to recover despite broader macroeconomic challenges such as high interest rates and inflation. To understand the impact that the pandemic had on the airline industry, consider the annual, tri-year, and five-year performance of two highly followed airline stock indexes, the S&P 500 Passenger Airlines (Industry) and the Dow Jones U.S. Airlines Index. Before their pandemic drops, the two indexes had stood at 332.14 and 266.55 points, respectively. At their bottom in the aftermath of global lockdowns, these indexes stood at 146.67 and 116.50 points. Now, the two are trading at 214 and 166 points – marking a solid recovery from the bottom and hampered only by the global turmoil in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Just like airlines, airports have also witnessed a resilient recovery against a tough macroeconomic backdrop. Data from the Airports Council International (ACI Europe) shows that passenger traffic at some of the largest airports in Europe, namely London-Heathrow, Paris-CDG, Amsterdam-Schiphol, Frankfurt, and Istanbul surged by nearly 21% in 2023 over 2022. However, just like airline stock indexes, the growth failed to mark a complete recovery from the pandemic’s effects as the number of passengers that traveled through these airports was nevertheless 6.5% below the pre-pandemic peak. Overall, passenger traffic at European airports grew by 19% in 2022 to sit at under 5.3% of the pre-pandemic figure.
Shifting gears to take a look at the airport management industry, the sector typically involves private companies that are often publicly traded that manage sizeable airports. For instance, London’s Heathrow Airport, which is one of the best known airports in Europe, is managed by Heathrow Airport Holdings, a privately held company with a cool £19.7 billion pounds in assets. The firm that manages another major European airport, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, is publicly traded. Headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, France, Aeroports de Paris SA (EPA:ADP.PA) is another sizeable entity whose market capitalization sits at €12.55 billion.
Safe to say, managing airports is quite lucrative and the industry itself is always abuzz with news. These days, hundreds of border control staff are striking at Heathrow over working conditions, with their demonstration coming right when travelers start to fly around for the Easter holiday season. The management of Charles de Gaulle is facing its own set of problems. Tensions reached a feverish pitch in the world’s fashion capital at the close of March 2024 when trade unions closed access roads to the airport that saw 57 million passengers travel through it in 2022.
So, while airports battle turmoil and airlines hope for a faster stock recovery, we decided to see which airports in Europe are the biggest.
Our Methodology
To make our list of Europe’s biggest airports, we used data from the 2022 Airport Traffic Report by the Port Authority of NY & NJ to sift out the European airports with the greatest number of passengers in 2022.
Largest Airports in Europe
15. Sheremetyevo International Airport
Number of Total Passengers in 2022: 28.4 million
The Sheremetyevo International Airport is the only Russian airport on our list of Europe’s largest airports. This also makes it the largest airport in Russia by passenger traffic. The airport is catered primarily to international travelers, as most of its terminals are for global flights. It is located in Khimki, Moscow, and traces its roots back to the mid 1950s when it was initially designated for air force use by the Soviet Union.
14. Aeropuerto de Palma de Mallorca
Number of Total Passengers in 2022: 28.5 million
The Aeropuerto de Palma de Mallorca is a dual purpose airport located in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. It is used by the Spanish military as well as commercial airliners to ferry cargo and passengers. The airport is managed by a public entity controlled by the Spanish government, and it is the third largest airport in Spain after the Aeropuerto de Barcelona-El Prat and Aeropuerto de Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Baraja.
13. Aéroport de Paris-Orly
Number of Total Passengers in 2022: 29.1 million
The Aéroport de Paris-Orly, as the name suggests, is an airport located in Paris, France. It is the second primary airport in the French capital, after the illustrious Charles de Gaulle airport. Orly airport is older than its counterpart, and it was the primary Parisian airport before de Gaulle opened. The airport’s location also meant that it was at the constant center of hostilities during the second world war and Allied bombing campaigns against Nazi Germany.
12. Aeroporto di Roma-Fiumicino
Number of Total Passengers in 2022: 29.3 million
Aeroporto di Roma-Fiumicino is located in Rome, Italy. It is also called the Leonardo da Vinci Airport, and is managed by the private Italian company Aeroporti di Roma. It features two terminals with dozens of gates and is known for its well designed interiors that reflect Italian aesthetics and sensitivities.
11. Sabiha Gökçen International Airport
Number of Total Passengers in 2022: 30.7 million
The Sabiha Gökçen International Airport is a Turkish airport located in Istanbul, Turkiye. It is one of the younger airports on our list. Sabiha Gökçen International Airport caters to travelers arriving on the Asian side of Istanbul, and it is also named after the world’s first female fighter pilot.
10. Antalya International Airport
Number of Total Passengers in 2022: 31.2 million
Antalya International Airport is another Turkish airport. It is located in Antalya, Turkey, and when compared to Sabiha Gökçen airport, Antalya International is significantly older as it was built in 1960. Initially catering to domestic customers only, the airport was later expanded to build international terminals as well.
9. Munich Airport
Number of Total Passengers in 2022: 31.6 million
The Munich Airport is located in the German finance hub of Munich. It is operated by a private company and started to serve travelers in the early 1990s. Covering nearly four thousand acres, the airport has two terminals and two runways. It serves dozens of passenger and cargo aircraft operators each year.
8. Gatwick Airport
Number of Total Passengers in 2022: 32.8 million
Gatwick Airport is the first British airport on our list of Europe’s largest airports. Another old airport, it opened in 1958 and was quite hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic that led to more than a quarter of the airport’s employees losing their jobs. Gatwick Airport has two terminals and more than five dozen gates. The airport is also one of the few in the world that is capable of supporting the world’s largest commercial passenger airplane, the Airbus A380. Keeping up to pace with London Heathrow’s focus on technology, Gatwick Airport is also introducing robot baggage handlers to ferry travelers’ suitcases from the terminal to the plane.
7. Aeropuerto de Barcelona-El Prat
Number of Total Passengers in 2022: 41.6 million
Aeropuerto de Barcelona-El Prat is the second largest airport in Spain and also the second Spanish airport on our list of the biggest European airports. To consider the scale of COVID-19’s impact on Aeropuerto de Barcelona-El Prat, consider the fact that some estimates suggest that the airport handled as much as 53 million passengers in 2019 – the last normal year before the coronavirus.
6. Flughafen Frankfurt/Main
Number of Total Passengers in 2022: 48.9 million
The Flughafen Frankfurt/Main airport is the second and final German airport on our list. It is also one of the oldest airports and traces its roots back to the early 1900s when the multi billion dollar commercial aviation industry was in its infancy. The airport has two primary terminals and four runways – not all of which are cleared for both take offs and landings. Frankfurt Airport also made the news in March 2024, when it announced that during the summer season, it will be able to support nearly three hundred global destinations. However, like its counterparts in France and the U.K., the airport was partially closed during the month because of strikes.
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Disclosure. None. 15 Largest Airports in Europe was initially published on Insider Monkey.