European airport traffic returns to pre-Covid levels

But the trade body warned that the recovery was uneven, with almost half of Europe's airports still below pre-pandemic levels. Overall, passenger traffic rose nine percent in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, according to Airports Council International Europe. Volume was nine percent higher than in the same period last year, lifting it to 0.4 percent above the first half of 2019, the year before the coronavirus outbreak that paralysed economies and the aviation industry.