Statistics provider Eurostat has revealed that a record 842 million passengers used airports across the European Union in 2013.
This marks an increase of 1.7% over the 2012 figures, according to the data released by Eurostat, which is the statistical office of the European Union.
Eurostat also stated that air passenger transport has been rising steadily since 2009, when it had fallen to 753 million passengers after the financial crisis.
In 2013, the highest number of air passengers was recorded in the UK (210 million). Luxembourg saw a rise of 14.5% in passenger traffic, the highest increase last year.
London’s Heathrow airport was the busiest airport across the EU and handled 72 million passengers in 2013. Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport and Germany’s Frankfurt Airport were the other top passenger airports in the EU.
There was also a decrease in the traffic of six member states in 2013, namely Estonia (11.1%), Cyprus (4.3%), Spain (1.3%), Austria (0.8%), Italy (0.7%) and Slovakia (0.4%).
Located in Luxembourg, Eurostat provides the EU with statistics at European level to enable comparisons between countries and regions.
Out of the top 30 airports in the EU, a total of 24 registered increases in the number of passengers handled in 2013, with the highest rises in Warszawa/Chopina (11.3%), Berlin/Tegel (7.9%) and Edinburgh (6.3%), falls were observed in Madrid/Barajas (12.1%), followed by Athens (3.1%), Milano/Malpensa (3.0%), Roma/Fiumicino (2.2%), Hamburg (1.4%) and Wien/Schwechat (0.7%).
Eurostat further said that in 2013, air transport within EU represented 43.3% of total air passenger transport, followed by air travel outside the EU (38.6%), while national transport accounted for the rest (18.1%).