Supporting

European
Aviation

EUROCONTROL
EUROPEAN AVIATION OVERVIEW
EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview /1
24-30 May 2023 Thursday 1 June 2023
Headlines Top 10 Busiest States Traffic Situation
(Week 24-30 May 2023) On week 24-30 May 2023 Average daily flights (including overflights)
The Network recorded 30,231 average daily flights (all flights incl. overflights compared with previous week) Week 24-30 May 2023
(+6% vs 2022), increasing (+4%) vs the previous
week and standing at 93% of 2019 levels.

The operators continue to expand their capacities

slowly but surely. Friday, the 26th of May, recorded
the 4th busiest day (32,111 flights) since the
beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, earlier than
in 2022.

For May, the number of flights in the Network was

92% of the 2019 levels, spot on the base scenario
of the flight forecast (releasedin December 2022).

There were no ATFM delays arising from French

industrial action during this week. However, arrival
and departure punctuality were poor last week,
closing 12 and 13 percentage points
(respectively) below 2019, owing to capacity,
staffing and weather issues, mainly in France,
Germany and Greece.

The Jet fuel price closed at 2.19 USD/gallon on 29

May, stable (+1%) on last edition.

The air ticket prices continue to increase (+14%)

in April 2023 (vs April 2022) while all-prices
inflation increased by 8% only (stable over the last
two months).

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview /2

Overall Situation Compared to the
EUROCONTROL Traffic Scenarios
(base year 2019)

The latest EUROCONTROL Traffic

scenarios were published on 16 December
2022.
Since that date, network traffic has evolved
around the base scenario.
For May 2023, flights were at 92% of May
2019 levels in line with our base scenario
(92%).
On a year-to-date basis, network traffic is at
89% of 2019 and +15% vs 2022

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview /3

Arrival & Departure Punctuality
(at top airports for the last week)
Week 23-29 May 2023

Over the last week, network punctuality for

arrivals and departures was 12.4 and 12.9
percentage points respectively lower than in
2019, they were however stable when
compared to the levels of 2022.

The Paris ACC industrial action (pension law

reform) has now ended. However some ATC
capacity delays were recorded in France.
Elsewhere in the network, Greece saw heavy
en-route delays for ATC staffing, as well as
Athens airport seeing delays due to ATC
equipment (radar issues). Seasonal weather,
mainly thunderstorms also impacted the
network throughout the week.

Regarding airports, Amsterdam Schiphol saw

delays due to weather, mainly due to
unfavorable wind direction. Work in progress
on runway 07L/25R caused delay at
Frankfurt Main, Copenhagen continues to
suffer from ATC staffing delays. Aerodrome
capacity delays were recorded in Antalya. UK
airports suffered from failures to their e-
gates at passport control on 27 May.

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview /4

En-Route ATFM Delays Share of en-route
Delays per cause (EUROCONTROL Area)
In minutes (7-day average) in 2023 ATFM delays
Week 24-30 May 2023

Based on a rolling week average, en-route ATFM delays have been constantly below 2022 levels, despite the 6% France accounted for 28% of all en-route ATFM delays over the last week, mainly
additional flights. concentrated in Marseille and Reims ACCs.

Since the 23rd of May, ATC industrial action in France previously taking place every Wednesday and Saturday Germany came second with 27% of all en-route ATFM delays, mainly concentrated in
(Paris ACC) have been cancelled. Karlsruhe and Munich ACCs.
Last week, en-route ATFM delays were just below 54,000 minutes per day, mostly due to capacity & staffing as Greece came third with 13% of all en-route ATFM delays.
well as weather issues.

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview /5

Top 10 Countries States in the EUROCONTROL
Departures and Arrivals
Week 24-30 May 2023
Network
Compared to the equivalent week in 2019
Dep/Arr flights for week 24-30 May 2023

The top 10 States recorded higher number of flights (+4.3%) than in the previous week.

Compared to the previous edition: Greece and the Netherlands swapped places.

Greece continued to record a sustained growth rate of 10% (vs previous week), owing to increases from light
aircraft operators, TUI, Jet2 and Volotea. Norway posted a 12% increase due to Widerøe, SAS and
Norwegian.

Three States within the top 10, have recorded growth above 2019 (Italy, Türkiye and Greece) over last week.
Spain, France and Switzerland are close to the pre-COVID levels.

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview /6

En-Route ATFM delayed flight per Area Control Centre

Delay per flight

Week 24-30 May 2023
Over the last week, en-route ATFM
delays have slightly increased
compared to the week before (54,000
minutes per day, on average) but traffic
levels are higher too.

Compared to the same week in 2022,

En-Route ATFM delays were 33% lower
this year (last year, there were delays
related to capacity, weather and
disruptions issues).
There were infrastructure issues in
Greece and staffing issues in
Copenhagen.

Last week, the most affected ACCs

were Amsterdam (4.9 min/flight),
Copenhagen (3.5), Athens (3.5), Tel Aviv
(22.9), Langen (2.7) and Marseille (2.7).

Overall, France was responsible for 28%

of all en-route ATFM delays last week,
followed by Germany (27%) and Greece
(13%).

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview /7

Top 10 Aircraft Operators Aircraft Operators in the
EUROCONTROL Network
Week 24-30 May 2023 (avg daily flights)

Compared to the equivalent week in 2019

No. Aircraft operator Average daily flights % prev week % prev year % 2019 Dep/Arr flights for week 24-30 May 2023

1. Ryanair Group 3,083 +1% S +7% S +21%

2. easyJet Group 1,633 -1% S +3% W -11%

3. Turkish Airlines 1,530 +2% S +14% S +16%

4. Lufthansa Airlines 1,143 +2% W -7% W -30%

5. Air France Group 1,071 +1% S +4% W -16%

6. KLM Group 859 +0% S +7% W -9%

7. Wizz Air Group 807 +1% S +8% S +32%

8. British Airways Group 793 -2% S +8% W -19%

9. SAS Group 678 +13% S +16% W -28%

10. Vueling 642 +0% S +4% W -1%

The top 10 aircraft operators recorded a slightly higher number of flights (+1.3%) on the previous week.

Last week, SAS posted a double-digit growth (+13%) on previous week, owing to increases on domestic flows in
Norway and Sweden.

Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa recorded a 2% growth (each) on the week before. There were more flights on the
domestic flows in Türkiye (operated by Turkish) and on flows Germany ↔ Italy and Germany ↔ Spain or
domestic Germany (Lufthansa).

Three airlines within the top 10 surpassed their 2019 flight levels: Wizz Air (+32%), Ryanair (+21%) and Turkish
Airlines (+16%). Vueling is close to the pre-COVID levels (-1%) .
EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview /8
Market Segments in the EUROCONTROL Network

Compared to 2022, Mainline (+18%), Regional (+7%), Charter (+7%) and Low-Cost (+3%) are recording growth compared to last year owing to the continuing recovery after the COVID-19 outbreak (pent-up demand).

Business Aviation (-14%) and All-Cargo (-2%) are now recording fewer flights in 2023 compared to 2022 levels. All-Cargo market share has now stabilized (representing a market share of 3.4% of all flights in May
2023 vs 3.8% in May 2022) and is now levelling off (no more rebound effect on 2022 events: Omicron, start of the Ukraine invasion) with the start of the summer schedules. Business Aviation (7.4% of the total flights
in May 2023 compared to 8.9% in May 2022) is levelling off too as the commercial airline activity (mainline, regional, low-cost) has now almost closed the gap between2023 and 2019.

Charter (+2%), accounting for a 2.9% market share of all flights in May 2023 (vs 3.1% in May 2022), records slightly more flights, owing to some increases on touristic flows with Croatia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania,
Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Greece, Egypt (compared to May 2022).

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview /9

Top 25 Global Aircraft Operators
(average daily departure flights)

Over the last week:

Eight European airlines are ranked in the

Top 25 global aircraft operators (one
less than in 2022).

The first European aircraft operator (3rd)

is Ryanair (rank one place higher
compared to two weeks ago).
The other European airlines in the Top
10 are easyJet (8th) and Turkish Airlines
(10th).
The top 15 is complemented by
Lufthansa (13th) and Air France (14th).
KLM and British Airways are respectively
ranked 21st and 22nd.

Vueling (24th) is the last European airline

in this ranking.

Wizz Air is the only European airline that

has slipped out of the top 25 since 2022.

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview / 10

Top 10 Airports

Airport Ranking
Week 24-30 May 2023 (vs 2019)
No changes in the ranking
compared to the previous edition.
No. Airport Avg. daily dep/arr flights vs 2022 vs 2019

1. iGA Istanbul 1,413 S +15% S +23%

Almost all airports experienced
2. Amsterdam 1,344 S +4% W -9% sustained growth on 2022; ranging
S W from +3% (Munich) to +15% (iGA
3. Paris Charles de Gaulle 1,305 +4% -9%
Istanbul).
4. London Heathrow 1,262 S +9% W -7%
Palma de Mallorca airport (-2% on
5. Frankfurt 1,196 W -1% W -21% 2022, same week) was affected by
6. Madrid Barajas 1,069 S +6% W -11% bad weather. Frankfurt (-1%) was
affected by works on one of its four
7. Barcelona 940 S +9% W -7%
runways.
8. Munich 908 S +3% W -26%
iGA Istanbul and Palma de Mallorca
9. Palma de Mallorca 840 W -2% S +9% are the two airports in 2023
S W -10%
amongst the top 10 surpassing
10. London Gatwick 782 +6%
their 2019 levels.

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview / 11

Average Arr/Dep Punctuality at Main Airports
(Week 24-30 May 2023)

At most airports, arrival punctuality is

higher (i.e. better) than departure
punctuality.
After having deteriorated in early March
because of significant en-route ATFM
delays related to industrial action in
France, arrival and departure
punctuality have only marginally
improved in May and are still worse
than in 2022.
However a few airports, notably
Stockholm, Athens, Liège, Tel Aviv, and
Frankfurt have departure punctuality
which is higher than arrival punctuality
which indicates that these airports have
been able to absorb delays.

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview / 12

Top 25 Global Airport Departures
(average daily departure flights)

Over the last week

Five European airports are ranked in the

Top 25 of global airport departures
(there were six in 2022).

The first European airport (7th) is iGA

Istanbul.

The other European airports in the Top

25 are Amsterdam (9th), CDG (11th),
Heathrow (13th) and Frankfurt (17th).
Madrid is no longer present in this top
25.
The first Chinese airport in 2023 is
Shanghai (18th), when none was part of
the Top 25 a year ago

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview / 13

Traffic Flows
(average daily departure/arrival flights for week 24-30 May 2023)

The main traffic flow was intra-European with 24,005 daily flights last week, higher (+4%) than in the previous week. Inter-Continental flows recorded 5,454 daily flights on average last week, +2% vs the previous week.

The second regional flow is between Europe and the Middle-East with 1,369 average daily flights last week, showing a decrease of +2% vs the previous week.
The third flow is with North America with 1,347 daily flights, slightly higher (+2%) than in the previous week.
The fourth flow is with North Africa, with 1,061 flights per day, showing a +2% increase on previous week.
Flows with Other Europe (incl. Russian Federation) are still lagging behind and were at -68% compared to 2019.

Flows between Europe and Asia/Pacific are still lagging behind, to a lesser extent, at -10% compared to 2019, but strengthening week after week, driven by the re-opening of China.

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview / 14

Top 10 Long Haul Country-Pairs
(average daily departure/arrival flights for the last week)
Week 24-30 May 2023

A few changes in the ranking over the

previous week for the top 10 Long-haul
Country-Pairs: Italy ↔ US and
Netherlands ↔ US swapped places. The
same happened to Ireland ↔ US and
Spain ↔ US (compared to the previous
edition). India ↔ UK exited the top 10
while Canada ↔ UK entered it.

All but two of the flows posted an increase

(or remained stable) on previous week
(ranging from 0% to 10%). Italy ↔ US
recorded a 10% increase owing to United
and Delta Airlines on flows connecting
Rome and New York & San Francisco.

Eight of the top 10 Long Haul Country-P

airs are with the US, the main three being
between US and UK, Germany and France.

All but one flows posted an increase on

2022 (same week).

Half of the flows were above 2019 levels

over the previous week.

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview / 15

Economics Jet Fuel Price (Europe)
Week 24-30 May 2023

29 May 2023
avg fuel price:

$2.19 /gallon

1%
vs. $2.16 /gallon
on 12 May 2023
Source: IATA/Platts

The average price of jet fuel increased to 2.19 USD/gallon on 29 May, stable (+1%) compared to the previous edition. Prices recorded a 24% drop compared to the beginning of 2023.

Based on a moving average trend, fuel prices in Europe have almost halved in one year, from $4/gallon in June 2022 down to $2.19/gallon at the end of May 2023

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview / 16

GDP in the European Union Price Change per Month (EU27)
Constant prices and exchange rate, Euro For year 2022

According to the latest GDP forecast from Oxford Economics, EU27 economies have posted a The latest information from EUROSTATshow the following:
positive growth during Q1 2023 (+0.3% vs Q1 2022, revised up from +0.1% in the previous
In April 2023, ticket prices continued to increase: +14% on April 2022, while all-prices inflation
forecast). Economies have returned to growth in Q1 2023 (vs Q1 2022) and the quarterly rate
increased by ~8% only (stable over the last two months).
should climb up to +0.5% in Q4 2024 (vs Q4 2023).
This reflects inter alia sustained demand, reduced flight choice and higher jet fuel prices.
In terms of index with 2019 as base 100, 2023 should be at 103 and 2024 at 105.

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview / 17

Aircraft Deliveries
Airbus & Boeing, Q1 2023

For the first quarter in 2023

Boeing delivered three more aircraft (130,

+2%) than Airbus (127).

Narrow-bodies aircraft dominated Airbus’s

and Boeing’s deliveries during the first
quarter of 2023.

Airbus delivered 48 aircraft (38% share of

the Q1 2023 deliveries) to European
market whereas Boeing delivered 28
aircraft (22% share) to Europe.
Airbus delivered 34 aircraft (27% share of
the Q1 2023 deliveries) to the North-
American market whereas Boeing
delivered 77 aircraft (59% share) to North
America.

The Asia/Pacific region was Airbus

‘second market with 35 deliveries (28%
share of totals) vs the fourth market for
Boeing with 9 aircraft delivered (7%).

Source: company reports.

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview / 18

En-route Air Navigation Charges for the EUROCONTROL Area (2023)

At network level, 652M€ were billed in March

which represents +28% vs 2022 and +12% vs
2019.
These changes were driven by the evolution
of unit rates and of traffic characterized by
the distance flown and the weight of each
aircraft (or Service Units).

The March 2023 variation vs March 2022

(+28%) is explained by an increase in Unit
Rates of +7% and an increase in Service
Units of +20%.
Monthly variations in January (+40%) and
February (+36%) were artificially inflated by
COVID-19 variant (omicron) which impacted
growth in service units early 2022. This
artificial effect has diminished in March.

The total amount billed in March was higher

than in February: more days and more
seasonal traffic. There is no clear impact of
the industrial action in France on March en-
route charges.

On a year-to-date basis, EUROCONTROL has

billed 1,814 M€ which is +34% vs 2022

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview / 19

 Supporting
European
Aviation

To further assist you in your analysis, EUROCONTROL provides the following additional
information on a daily basis (daily updates at 7:30 CET for the first item) and every
Friday for the last item:

1. EU ROCONTROL Aviation Intelligence Portal:

www.eurocontrol.int/Economics/
This dashboard provides daily traffic data on Day+1 for all European States; for the largest airports;
for each Area Control Centre (ACC) and the largest airline operators.

2. EU ROCONTROL “Our Data” Portal:

www.eurocontrol.int/our-data/
This webpage provides an overview of key charts and publications related to European aviation
performance.
© EUROCONTROL- 2023
3. Rolling Seasonal Plan:
www.eurocontrol.int/publication/european-network-operations-plan-2023-rolling-seasonal-plan This document is published by EUROCONTROL for information purposes. It may be copied
This Rolling Seasonal Plan covers a rolling six-week period and consolidates data from 350 in whole or in part, provided that EUROCONTROL is mentioned as the source and it is not
airlines, 68 area control centres (ACCs), 55 airports and 43 States. It plays a major role in helping used for commercial purposes (i.e. for financial gain). The information in this document
European aviation to recover by providing aviation’s key actors with the global view they need to may not be modified without prior written permission from EUROCONTROL.
plan effectively.
www.eurocontrol.int

For more information please contact aviation.intelligence@eurocontrol.int

EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview / 20