Europe's aviation market

European aviation at a glance

• Busiest airport: London Heathrow 
• Top airline: Ryanair
• Country with most international airline capacity: Spain

Airline capacity in Europe

How much airline capacity is there in Europe this month?

• Overall capacity in  European market grew by 2.1% vs June 25 to 164m.
• International capacity grew by 2.5%, whilst domestic capacity increased by just  0.5% vs June 25.
• LCC capacity grew by 5.3% vs last year, whilst mainline carriers' capacity remains constant but still represent 60% of the market.

*As of July 2025, international capacity is reported on a two-way basis (previously one-way departing)

Which is the top airline in Europe?

• Ryanair is the largest carrier within Europe, with 21.5m seats, an increase of 7% vs last year.  The carrier is operating  11.6m more seats than easyJet, the second largest carrier.

• easyJet  is the second busiest carrier with 9.9m seats, an increase in capacity of 3.2% vs last year.

• Wizz Air made the largest percentage increase in capacity of 30.2% to 8m seats (1.9m additional seats).

• Lufthansa reduced capacity by 314k seats, Turkish Airlines by 319k seats and Air France by 232k seats vs June 25.

Which European country has most airline capacity (domestic + international)?

• Spain and the UK are the largest capacity markets again this month, with 18m and 16.9m seats respectively in June 26.  Capacity increased by 5.8% in Spain and 1.5% in the UK vs June 25.
• Capacity grew at the fastest rate again in Poland by 17.8%, with an additional 542k seats.
• Volume wise capacity grew most in Italy and Spain by 1.1m and 983,700 seats respectively.
• Capacity reduced by 4.3% in Türkiye and 2.6% in Germany vs June 25 (564k and 330k fewer seats respectively).
  
  

Which European country has most domestic airline capacity?

• Türkiye and Spain are the largest domestic markets, with 5.31m seats and 5.29m seats respectively in June 26. Domestic capacity increased by 2.8% in Spain and 2.2% in Türkiye vs last year.
• Domestic capacity in Italy grew by 8.4% vs last year, an additional 336k seats.
• Domestic capacity fell by 11% in Sweden and 5.7% in Portugal vs last year.

Top 10 busiest airports in Europe (departing seats)

Which is the busiest airport in Europe?

• London Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe this month, with 4.28m seats, despite a reduction in capacity of 2% vs last year.
• A close second, Istanbul Airport also saw capacity drop by 6.5% to 4.19m seats in June 26.
• Strongest percentage growth in the Top 10 airports comes again from Madrid and Barcelona where carriers have increased capacity by 6.6% and 4.9% respectively year on year.
• Capacity also reduced in Munich by 3%, with 79k fewer seats vs June 25.

Airline capacity by region

Which region of Europe has most airline capacity?

• 73% of capacity operates from or within Western Europe, growing by 1.9% vs last year to 120m seats.
• Capacity in Eastern/Central Europe continues to grow at a faster rate of 7.6%, to 22.5m seats.