Budapest Airport handled 304,000 passengers in July, but still an 81% fall

According to Budapest Airport, Airports Council International (ACI) has published a detailed traffic analysis about European aviation in the first half of 2020. Amongst other things, the report details that traffic recovery during the second half of 2020 is slower than expected, due primarily to the diverse and often changing travel restrictions introduced by the various countries.

ACI: Drastic drop, slow recovery – European aviation in the first half of 2020

The ACI report, issued a few days ago, highlights the disastrous impact of the coronavirus on aviation; European airports registered a 64.2% drop in passenger traffic overall during the first half of 2020, which means losing 969 million passengers. The biggest decrease in traffic came during the second quarter, when passenger numbers were down 96.4% compared to the same period in 2019. Budapest Airport welcomed 2 892 854 passengers during the first half of 2020, which is 60.8% less than in the same period last year.

The coronavirus had a smaller, yet still significant impact on airports outside of Europe; in their case, passenger traffic dropped by 59.8% during the first half of 2020.

The smaller decrease, compared to that experienced by European airports, is primarily attributable to domestic flights, for example in the United States and China, which are not subject to the often different national travel restrictions.

June – traffic down by more than 90%

A drop of 93.2% was observed in passenger traffic within Europe during the month of June. Trends in aviation are demonstrated well by passenger traffic at the busiest European hub, London Heathrow, which handled 350 700 passengers this June, instead of the 7.24 million recorded in the same month last year, thus registering a 95.2% decrease.

Travel restrictions within the European Union were lifted during the second half of the month, which is clearly visible on traffic at Budapest Airport as well; passenger numbers barely increased in June, and were still down 94.3%.

July – 208 million fewer aerial passengers in Europe

Following the partial lifting of travel restrictions within the EU in the middle of June, traffic recovery is slower than expected. European aviation registered a 78% decrease in July compared to the same period last year; this meant the loss of 208 million passengers in July throughout Europe.

Budapest Airport handled 304 596 passengers in July, which is a threefold increase from the previous month, but still an 81% drop compared to July 2019.

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Source: Budapest Airport/ACI