European airport trade body, ACI EUROPE today released its traffic report for May 2026. 

After turning negative for the first time since the post-COVID recovery in April (-0.7%), passenger traffic across the European airport network rebounded in May with an increase of +3.2% when compared to the same month last year. EU+ airports1 led the growth dynamic at +3.4%, with volumes expanding the fastest within the EU (+4.2%), whereas the non-EU+ market2 lagged behind the European average at +2%. 

Majors led by Heathrow 

London-Heathrow (-1.2%) retained its position as the busiest European airport in May, welcoming 7.12 million passengers. Hot on its heels was Istanbul (+2%) – the two hubs were separated by just 3,012 passengers. 
Spanish airports achieved the best performances amongst the top 10 busiest airports in May led by Barcelona (+6.5%) and followed by Palma de Mallorca (+4.9%) and Madrid (+4.8%). The Balearic airport welcomed more passengers than London Gatwick or Munich.

Freight and movements

May 2026 saw an increase of +2.5% in freight volumes over the same month last year. Amongst the top 10 European airports for freight traffic, Leipzig (+14.1%), Brussels (+12.4%), and Amsterdam (+10.2%) saw double-digit growth. In absolute terms, Istanbul, Frankfurt and Paris-CDG shifted the biggest volumes of freight in May.

Aircraft movements remained largely flat (+0.8%) when compared to May 2025 – reflecting the impact of the war in the Middle East and tighter capacity management by airlines.

The integral version of the report (three pages) is attached to this AVIONEWS.