Air traffic slows down due to geopolitical crisis. Italia in third place in EU

Italia remains one of the most attractive destinations for international airlines. While passenger traffic continues to grow at rates above the European average, more and more intercontinental carriers, particularly from the United States, are strengthening their presence at Italian airports. In the first quarter of 2026, air traffic growth in Italia continued, albeit at a slower pace than at the end of 2025, affected by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and rising fuel prices. The exception was ITA Airways, which, bucking the market trend, reduced traffic by 8% in 2025, while the sector in Italia had grown by 5%. The company, which has entered the orbit of the Lufthansa group, is gradually scaling down its presence on the domestic market to focus on medium and long haul and on improving load factors.

In Europe, air traffic grew by 4% in 2025 and by 4.9% compared to pre-Covid levels. However, this is half the pace of 2024, when the increase was 8%. The slowing trend continued in the first quarter of 2026, with growth of 3.7 per cent, lower than the 4.8 per cent recorded in the last quarter of 2025.

The data emerges from the 20th edition of FactBook 2026, the air transport observatory realised by the ICCSAI Centre - Transport and Sustainable Mobility of the University of Bergamo and presented today in Rome in the presence, among others, of Enac president Pierluigi Di Palma, Stefano Paleari of the ICCSAI-ITSM Centre and ITA Airways CEO Joerg Eberhart. "After the post-Covid rebounds, when European traffic had grown up to 127.8% as a reaction to restrictions, the market is gradually stabilising also due to geopolitical uncertainties and the trend of the world economy," explained Renato Redondi, ICCSAI researcher and lecturer at the University of Bergamo.

With 230 million passengers handled in 2025, Italia is confirmed as Europe's third largest market for air traffic. The 5% growth recorded for the year exceeds the continental average and places the country ahead of Germany, France and Portugal, behind only Spain and the United Kingdom. Even in the first quarter of 2026, the Italia market continued to grow (+4.6%), although it slowed down compared to the +5.8% in the last quarter of 2025, when it was the second most dynamic European market after Poland. At continental level, London Heathrow confirmed its position as Europe's leading airport with 84.5 million passengers, albeit with growth below the European average. Germany, France and the Netherlands have not yet fully recovered their pre-pandemic traffic levels. Among the most significant figures are Poland's growth (+14.2% in 2025) and that of Athens airport, which recorded an increase of 32.9% compared to 2019.

Rome Fiumicino maintains its seventh place in the European ranking with 51.3 million passengers (+4.3%), confirming its position as Italy's main airport, ahead of London Gatwick. Milan Malpensa, the second national airport with 31.4 million passengers, climbs instead to 19th place from 20th in the European ranking, overtaking London Stansted thanks to an 8.6% growth, among the highest on the continent. Milan Linate stands out for the acceleration recorded in the first quarter of 2026 (+12.9%), also helped by the redistribution of slots previously held by ITA Airways. Among the main Italian airports, Bergamo-Orio al Serio confirms its third position despite recording a temporary drop in traffic. However, the airport remains among those that grew the most in 2019 and shows signs of recovery in 2026. The performance of regional airports was particularly positive: Bari grew by 9.7%, Lamezia Terme by 12.4%, Trieste by 25.1% and Pescara by 31.5%.