Europe's Aviation Market
Monthly Airline Data Updates for the European Market
Discover the Busiest Airports and Airlines in Europe This Month | September 2025
How much airline capacity is there in Europe? Find out with new data each month, detailing:
- Which is the busiest airport?
- What is the biggest airline in Europe?
- Which European country has the most airline capacity?
- Which regions are most visited?
- And more.
Airline Capacity in Europe | September 2025
How much airline capacity is there in Europe This Month?
- Overall capacity in the European market grew by 3.3% vs Sept 24 to 163m.
- International capacity grew by 4.4%, whilst domestic capacity reduced by 1.1% vs Sept 24.
- Low Cost Carriers' capacity grew by 4.1% vs last year, whilst Mainline carriers' capacity grew by 2.8% and continues to represent 58% of the market.
*As of July 2025, international capacity is reported on a two-way basis (previously one-way departing).
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European Countries' Airline Capacity | September 2025
Which European Country Has The Most Airline Capacity (Domestic + International)?
- Spain and the UK are the largest capacity markets in Europe, with 17.1m and 16.7m seats respectively. Capacity in both countries increased by 1.7% and 0.4% respectively vs Sept 24.
- Capacity grew at the fastest rate in Türkiye by 12.2%, adding an additional 1.5m seats.
Which European Country Has THE Most DOMESTIC Airline Capacity?
- Türkiye and Spain are the largest domestic markets, with 5.3m seats and 5.1m seats respectively, despite a 2.3% reduction in domestic capacity in Spain vs last year.
- Percentage wise capacity reduced most within the Top 10 countries again in the UK, declining by 9.6% this month. This represents 221,500 fewer seats vs Sept 24.
Top Ten Busiest Airports by Departing Seats in Europe | September 2025
Which is the Busiest Airport in Europe?
- Istanbul remains the busiest airport in Europe, growing by 6.5% to 4.5m seats. A close second, Heathrow declined by 0.6% to 4.4m seats.
- Strongest growth in the Top 10 airports comes from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen where carriers have increased capacity by 24.9% year on year. This escalates SAW into the Top 10 airports and displaces London Gatwick, where capacity reduced by 4% in Sept 25.
Airline Capacity By European Region | September 2025
Which Region of Europe Has Most AIRLINE Capacity?
- 73% of capacity is from or within Western Europe, growing by 2.8% vs last year to 119.1m seats.
- Capacity in Eastern/Central Europe continues to grow at a faster rate of 4%, to 21.3m seats.
Where do flights from Europe go?
- The largest international market is for travel within Europe, with 88m seats, increasing year on year by 3.2m seats and making up 67% share of the market in Sept 25.
- The second largest international market is North America, with 11.7m seats, an increase in capacity of 2% vs last year. Boosted by strong demand for US travellers to Europe.
- Travel to/from the Middle East grew at the fastest rate this month by 10.8% vs last year to 10.2m seats, adding 993,000 seats vs Sept 24.
Top Ten Airlines in Europe (Departing seats, one-way) | September 2025
Which is the biggest airline in Europe?
- Ryanair is the largest carrier within Europe, with 19.8m seats, an increase of 1.3% vs last year. The carrier is operating 10.1m more seats than easyJet, the second largest carrier.
- Turkish LCC, Pegasus continued to record the strongest growth amongst the Top 10 European airlines this month, with a year on year increase of 19.1%.
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