During summer 2024, air capacity to Mediterranean countries soared. What were the key factors behind this growth, and which new destinations are gaining popularity?
Here we analyse key data for the five largest markets in the Mediterranean - Spain, Italy, France, Türkiye and Greece – from summer 2024 and compare it to summer 2023, and the year-on-year capacity growth trends reveal some interesting results.
Spain holds the position as the largest market in the Mediterranean, with nearly 20 million more seats than Italy, which ranks as the second largest market. In summer 2024, Spain’s capacity increased by 8.3%; from 72.2 million in summer 2023 to 78.3 million in summer 2024. This growth rate is ahead of the overall trend in Western European international markets, where capacity is increasing by an average of 5.2% on summer 2023.
For such a well-established market, Spain remains a popular holiday destination with wall-to-wall sunshine almost all year round. In summer 2024, demand remained strong from established markets such as the UK, France and Germany, each adding between 5-7% more seats. Meanwhile, smaller markets such as Poland, the Czech Republic and the US all recorded double-digit growth. There seems to be much to be optimistic about for Spain’s tourism market going forward.
Italy has also experienced significant growth in summer 2024, with a 11.4% increase in capacity (more than double the regional trend). This is the highest growth rate among the top five countries. In part, Italy has also contributed to the high growth rate in Spain, with an increase of 12% in Italy-Spain capacity this summer. Italy is Spain’s third largest market in capacity terms, while Spain is Italy’s largest international market.
Countries driving growth into Italy this summer include:
- The United States - carriers increased capacity by 21.6%, equivalent to almost 0.5m additional seats.
- Albania - capacity increased by 45.2%, taking capacity this summer to almost 2 million seats.
Among the largest markets in the Mediterranean, France experienced the slowest growth with capacity rising by just 3.6% compared to summer 2023. This is interesting given the Paris Olympics took place this summer - whilst a large global sporting event often brings more sports related tourism, typically other tourists tend to stay away. However, it’s likely that Paris, and France, will see a bounce back next year as those travellers that put off their trip this summer come back next year.
Greece has also seen strong growth in summer 2024, with carriers adding 8.2% more seats year-on-year; an increase of 2 million seats. This growth has come from a range of markets with countries like Poland, the Czech Republic and the United States adding significant increases in airline capacity –the appeal of the Greek market continues to be strong.
Beyond the largest markets, there were pockets of strong growth in some of the Mediterranean’s less well-known coastal destinations. Albania, Croatia and Montenegro all experienced exceptional growth in capacity during summer 2024 as European travellers continue to seek out new, and value for money, destinations.
Croatia is the largest of these three countries in air capacity terms, with just over 6 million seats this summer, up 19.6% on last year. Countries driving this growth include Germany, the UK, Italy and Spain. While there are 38 routes operating this summer that didn’t last year, there has been some network churn, so the net increase in routes is 23.
Albania has seen airline capacity double year-on-year, with an increase of 1.2 million seats in summer 2024. This has come in large part from Italy, which accounts for almost half of all new capacity. Ultimately Ryanair are driving this from Italy and the UK with their entrance into the Albanian market this summer adding almost 900,000 seats. There is growth too from France and Türkiye, reflecting the strong demand for Albania as a relatively unexplored destination.
Lastly, but by no means least, 2024 appears to have been the year that Montenegro has expanded its source markets beyond neighbouring Balkan countries, attracting capacity from Türkiye and the UK in particular. Capacity has grown by 19.2%, reaching 0.8 million seats this summer.
Which Airlines Were Driving Growth?
The carriers driving growth on international services within Europe this summer are unsurprisingly some of Europe’s largest low-cost carriers (LCCs). Ryanair dominates with capacity increases of more than four times that of the next largest, adding 8.4 million seats this summer across their European network; with 3.2 million of those additional seats in Italy and Spain cementing its already strong foothold in both countries. It is currently expanding into Eastern Europe through subsidiaries like Malta Air and Buzz, based in Poland, which enable Ryanair to penetrate new markets and increase its presence in existing ones.
easyJet has also been in growth mode too, adding 2.0 million seats over summer 2024 across Europe. Spain and Italy feature in their capacity additions, as do the UK, France and Switzerland.
With such strong growth likely to continue as there is a steady pipeline of aircraft orders coming in the next few years to European LCCs, and with airlines already starting to put summer 2026 programmes on sale, it seems like there’s never been a better time to look beyond the traditional Mediterranean sunspots and take the opportunity to explore some new markets.
