European aviation market briefing
Monthly airline data updates for the European market
July 2026
Add your email for instant access to this month's data from Europe
How much airline capacity does Europe have in 2026?
Monthly scheduled capacity: July 2025 vs July 2026
73% of capacity is from or within Western Europe, growing by 3.5% vs last year to 129m seats.
Capacity in Eastern/Central Europe continues to grow at a faster rate of 6.8%, to 24.4m seats.
Are low cost carriers growing faster than mainline airlines in Europe?
Mainline carriers hold 60% of the European market with 107.0m seats, up 1.5% vs July 2025. Low cost carriers grew at a significantly faster rate of 7.2%, reaching 70.6m seats and representing 40% of total capacity.
Mainline vs low-cost
Which European country has the most airline seats?
Spain and the UK are the largest capacity markets, with 19.3m and 17.8m seats respectively in July 26. Capacity increased by 6% in Spain and 2.5% in the UK vs July 25.
Capacity grew at the fastest rate again in Poland by 16.5%, with an additional 529k seats being added mostly by Ryanair and Wizz Air.
Volume wise capacity grew most in Italy and Spain by 1.2m and 1.1m seats respectively. Italian capacity increases are also being driven by Ryanair and Wizz Air.
Top 10 countries by seat capacity
Top 10 European Countries by Seats — July 2026
| Rank | Country | Seats Jul 2026 | Seats Jul 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Spain | 19,307,366 | 18,208,439 | +6.0% |
| 2. | United Kingdom | 17,840,018 | 17,401,361 | +2.5% |
| 3. | Italy | 14,939,082 | 13,696,381 | +9.1% |
| 4. | Türkiye | 14,676,390 | 14,255,694 | +3.0% |
| 5. | Germany | 13,301,446 | 13,220,205 | +0.6% |
| 6. | France | 11,260,751 | 11,172,610 | +0.8% |
| 7. | Greece | 7,110,110 | 6,767,083 | +5.1% |
| 8. | Netherlands | 4,369,161 | 4,330,567 | +0.9% |
| 9. | Portugal | 4,328,204 | 4,258,167 | +1.6% |
| 10. | Poland | 3,729,107 | 3,199,860 | +16.5% |
Countries adding most capacity (July 2026 vs July 2025): Italy added the most seats in absolute terms (+1,242,701 seats), followed by Spain (+1,098,927). Poland grew fastest at +16.5% (+529,247 seats), driven by Ryanair and Wizz Air expansion.
Countries with modest growth: Germany grew just 0.6% (+81,241 seats). France added 88,141 seats (+0.8%). Netherlands and Portugal each added fewer than 110,000 seats year on year.
Source: OAG
Which European country has the most domestic flights?
Türkiye and Spain are the largest domestic markets, with 5.8m seats and 5.6m seats respectively in July 26. Domestic capacity increased by 7% in Türkiye and 3% in Spain vs last year.
Domestic capacity in Italy also grew by 7.1% vs last year, an additional 300k seats.
Domestic capacity reduced by 15% in Sweden and 3.4% in Germany vs last year.
Top 10 domestic markets by seat capacity
Which is the biggest airline in Europe?
Ryanair is the largest carrier within Europe, with 22.2m seats this month, an increase of 6.3% vs last year. They are operating 11.7m more seats than easyJet, the second largest carrier.
easyJet is the second busiest carrier with 10.4m seats, an increase in capacity of 2.7% vs last year.
Seat capacity by airline
Top 10 European Airlines by Seats — July 2026
| Rank | Airline | Seats Jul 2026 | Seats Jul 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ryanair | 22,178,240 | 20,866,100 | +6.3% |
| 2. | easyJet | 10,432,972 | 10,156,633 | +2.7% |
| 3. | Wizz Air | 8,837,314 | 6,601,714 | +33.9% |
| 4. | Turkish Airlines | 6,448,283 | 6,385,570 | +1.0% |
| 5. | Lufthansa | 5,688,643 | 5,877,209 | −3.2% |
| 6. | Pegasus Airlines | 4,542,006 | 4,138,798 | +9.7% |
| 7. | British Airways | 4,239,950 | 4,231,595 | +0.2% |
| 8. | Vueling Airlines | 4,188,850 | 4,152,566 | +0.9% |
| 9. | Air France | 3,467,153 | 3,706,735 | −6.5% |
| 10. | KLM Royal Dutch Airlines | 3,344,180 | 3,185,145 | +5.0% |
Wizz Air is the fastest-growing carrier in the Top 10, adding 2.2m seats vs July 2025 — a 33.9% increase to 8.8m seats. This reflects continued Eastern European network expansion.
Pegasus Airlines grew 9.7%, adding 403k seats. Air France contracted by 6.5% vs last year — 240k fewer seats. Lufthansa reduced capacity by 3.2%. KLM enters the Top 10 this month with 3.3m seats, up 5.0% year on year.
What is the busiest airport in Europe?
Istanbul is the busiest airport in Europe this month, with 4.7m seats, despite a reduction in capacity of 1.3% vs last year.
A close second, London Heathrow also saw capacity fall by 1.2% to 4.5m seats in July 26.
Strongest percentage growth in the Top 10 airports comes again from Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen which is up 10.9%, followed by Madrid and Barcelona where carriers have increased capacity by 7.1% and 6.3% respectively year on year.
| No | Code | Airport | Seats | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | IST | Istanbul Airport | 4.69m | −1.3% |
| 2. | LHR | London Heathrow | 4.48m | −1.2% |
| 3. | CDG | Paris Charles de Gaulle | 4.04m | +0.3% |
| 4. | FRA | Frankfurt International | 3.85m | +0.7% |
| 5. | AMS | Amsterdam Schiphol | 3.81m | +0.9% |
| 6. | MAD | Madrid Barajas | 3.65m | +7.1% |
| 7. | BCN | Barcelona | 3.34m | +6.3% |
| 8. | FCO | Rome Fiumicino | 3.12m | +5.2% |
| 9. | SAW | Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen | 2.82m | +10.9% |
| 10. | MUC | Munich International | 2.66m | +0.7% |
Source: OAG · hover chart or click a table row to cross-highlight
Istanbul Airport takes the top spot this month with 4.69m seats, narrowly ahead of London Heathrow at 4.48m. Both airports contracted year on year — IST by 1.3% and LHR by 1.2%.
Strongest percentage growth in the Top 10 comes from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (+10.9%), followed by Madrid (+7.1%) and Barcelona (+6.3%) where carriers have significantly expanded summer capacity.
Munich International returns to modest growth at +0.7% this month, recovering from the sharper declines seen earlier in 2026.
Where do Europeans fly internationally?
The largest international market is within Europe, with 97.9m seats, adding 5.2m seats and making up 68% of total international capacity in July 2026.
The second and third largest international markets are North America and Africa with 12.9m and 10.5m seats respectively. Travel to/from Asia Pacific grew at the fastest rate by 12.8% vs last year. Capacity to the Middle East reduced by 8.3%, with 873k fewer seats than July 2025.
Capacity by destination region
Capacity to the Middle East reduced by 8.3% — 873k fewer seats than July 2025. This reflects continued network reconfiguration by European carriers on Middle East routes.
Travel to/from Asia Pacific grew at the fastest rate by 12.8% vs last year, adding around 1.1m seats — continuing a multi-month trend of European carriers rebuilding long-haul Asian networks.
Within Europe itself, capacity grew by 5.6% to 97.9m seats — the intra-European market remains the dominant driver of total European capacity.
European aviation: frequently asked questions
How much airline capacity is there in Europe? Find out with new data each month. Data is sourced from OAG's Schedules Analyser.
Download this month's dataGet the data
Add your email and we'll send you all of this month's data to download.
Overall capacity in European market grew by 3.6% vs July 25 to 177.6m. International capacity grew by 4.4%, whilst domestic capacity remained relatively static, up by just 0.5% vs July 25.
LCC capacity grew by 7.2% vs last year, whilst Mainline carriers' capacity grew by 1.5% but still represent 60% of the market.