The total number of passengers1 transported by air in the EU27 rose by 4.7% in 2006 compared with 2005, to almost 740 million. In 2005, passenger numbers in the EU25 rose by 8.5%2. In 2006, the highest numbers of passengers were registered in the United Kingdom (211 million, +4%), Germany (154 million, +6%), Spain (151 million, +5%), France (113 million, +5%) and Italy (96 million, +9%). Passenger numbers rose in 2006 in all Member States except Cyprus and Malta. Four Member States recorded growth of 30% or more compared to 2005: Romania (+35%), Slovakia (+34%), Latvia (+33%) and Poland (+31%). Eight Member States reported an increase of more than 10%: seven Member States from Central and Eastern Europe as well as Ireland.

Of the total number of passengers transported, 23% (170 million) were carried on national flights, 44% (320 million) on intra-EU27 flights and 34% (250 million) on extra-EU27 flights. Amsterdam/Schiphol busiest airport for intra-EU traffic, Madrid/Barajas for national London/Heathrow remained, despite a fall of 0.5% in passenger numbers between 2005 and 2006, the EU’s busiest passenger airport with 67 million passengers in 2006. Paris/Charles de Gaulle (56 million, +6%) and Frankfurt/Main (52 million, +1%) were the second and third busiest airports, followed by Amsterdam/Schiphol (46 million, +4%) and Madrid/Barajas (45 million, +8%).

London/Heathrow (37 million) was the busiest EU airport for extra-EU27 passengers, Amsterdam/Schiphol (27 million) the busiest for intra-EU27 traffic and Madrid/Barajas (20 million) the busiest for national flights. These figures are published in a report3 from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, on air transport in the EU27 in 2006. This report also looks in detail at national, intra-EU and extra-EU air transport passengers, as well as the most important airport pairs, nationally and internationally.