European aviation market briefing
Monthly airline data updates for the European market
October 2026
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How much airline capacity does Europe have in 2026?
Monthly scheduled capacity: October 2025 vs October 2026
73% of capacity operates to,from or within Western Europe, growing by 1% vs last year to 117.1m seats.
Capacity in Eastern/Central Europe continues to grow at a faster rate of 7.4%, to 21m seats.
Are low cost carriers growing faster than mainline airlines in Europe?
Mainline carriers hold 60% of the European market with 95.8m seats, virtually unchanged (−0.03%) vs October 2025. Low Cost Carriers grew at a significantly faster rate of 5.1%, reaching 64.9m 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 17.5m and 16.6m seats respectively in October 26. Capacity increased by 3.5% in Spain and 1.2% in the UK vs October 25.
Within the top 10 markets, capacity grew at the fastest rate in Italy by 7.2% vs October 25.
Volume wise capacity grew most strongly in Italy and Spain by 890k and 592k seats respectively.
Top 10 countries by seat capacity
Top 10 European Countries by Seats — October 2026
| Rank | Country | Seats Oct 2026 | Seats Oct 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Spain | 17,478,198 | 16,886,123 | +3.5% |
| 2. | United Kingdom | 16,563,025 | 16,373,380 | +1.2% |
| 3. | Italy | 13,283,020 | 12,392,577 | +7.2% |
| 4. | Germany | 13,224,785 | 13,278,618 | −0.4% |
| 5. | Türkiye | 13,078,099 | 13,231,059 | −1.2% |
| 6. | France | 9,864,211 | 10,166,585 | −3.0% |
| 7. | Greece | 4,783,318 | 4,675,585 | +2.3% |
| 8. | Netherlands | 4,219,588 | 4,168,100 | +1.2% |
| 9. | Portugal | 3,886,603 | 3,886,103 | +0.0% |
| 10. | Switzerland | 3,495,999 | 3,520,731 | −0.7% |
Countries adding most capacity (October 2026 vs October 2025): Italy added the most seats in absolute terms (+890,443 seats), followed by Spain (+592,075) and the United Kingdom (+189,645). Italy also grew fastest at +7.2%.
Countries removing most capacity: France saw the largest decline at −3.0% (−302,374 seats), followed by Türkiye (−1.2%, −152,960 seats), Germany (−0.4%, −53,833 seats) and Switzerland (−0.7%, −24,732 seats).
Source: OAG
Which European country has the most domestic flights?
Türkiye and Spain are the largest domestic markets, with 5.1m seats and 5m seats respectively in October 26. Domestic capacity increased by 0.5% in Türkiye but contracted by 1.9% in Spain vs last year.
Domestic capacity in Italy grew at the fastest rate by 8.9% vs last year, an additional 331k seats. The growth is driven by low cost carriers, particularly Aero Italia and Wizz Air Malta as ITA retrenches.
Domestic capacity reduced by 9.1% in Germany and by 8.3% in Sweden.
Top 10 domestic markets by seat capacity
Which is the biggest airline in Europe?
Ryanair remains the largest carrier within Europe, with 20.2m seats, an increase of 1.1% vs last year. The carrier is operating 10.4m more seats than easyJet, the second largest carrier.
easyJet is the second busiest carrier with 9.8m seats, an increase in capacity of 0.9% vs last year.
Seat capacity by airline
Top 10 European Airlines by Seats — October 2026
| Rank | Airline | Seats Oct 2026 | Seats Oct 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ryanair* | 20,193,582 | 19,974,392 | +1.1% |
| 2. | easyJet | 9,755,296 | 9,668,242 | +0.9% |
| 3. | Wizz Air** | 8,146,838 | 6,618,045 | +23.1% |
| 4. | Turkish Airlines | 5,760,269 | 5,968,184 | −3.5% |
| 5. | Deutsche Lufthansa AG | 5,308,866 | 5,690,662 | −6.7% |
| 6. | Pegasus Airlines | 4,404,572 | 4,191,505 | +5.1% |
| 7. | British Airways | 4,057,632 | 4,132,385 | −1.8% |
| 8. | KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines | 3,374,007 | 3,190,459 | +5.8% |
| 9. | Vueling Airlines | 3,335,400 | 3,699,434 | −9.8% |
| 10. | SAS Scandinavian Airlines | 3,329,146 | 3,424,997 | −2.8% |
Wizz Air made the largest percentage increase in capacity of 23.1% to 8.2m seats (1.5m additional seats).
Lufthansa reduced capacity by 382k seats and Vueling Airlines by 364k seats vs October 25.
What is the busiest airport in Europe?
London Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe this month, with 4.38m seats, a reduction in capacity of 1.7% vs last year.
A close second, Istanbul reduced capacity by 3.5% to 4.35m seats in October 26.
Strongest percentage growth in the Top 10 airports comes from Rome Fiumicino and Madrid, both up 7% year on year.
| No | Code | Airport | Seats | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | LHR | London Heathrow | 4.38m | −1.7% |
| 2. | IST | Istanbul Airport | 4.35m | −3.5% |
| 3. | CDG | Paris Charles de Gaulle | 3.80m | +2.9% |
| 4. | AMS | Amsterdam Schiphol | 3.71m | +1.1% |
| 5. | FRA | Frankfurt International | 3.71m | −0.5% |
| 6. | MAD | Madrid Barajas | 3.59m | +7.0% |
| 7. | BCN | Barcelona | 3.07m | +1.8% |
| 8. | FCO | Rome Fiumicino | 2.93m | +7.0% |
| 9. | SAW | Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen | 2.70m | +6.1% |
| 10. | MUC | Munich International | 2.56m | −1.8% |
Source: OAG · October 2026 · hover chart or click a table row to cross-highlight
London Heathrow takes the top spot this month with 4.38m seats, ahead of Istanbul Airport at 4.35m. LHR fell 1.7% year on year while IST reduced capacity by 3.5%.
Strongest percentage growth in the Top 10 comes from Rome Fiumicino (+7.0%) and Madrid (+7.0%). Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen grew 6.1% and Barcelona 1.8%.
Amsterdam Schiphol moves above Frankfurt this month, with 3,714,206 seats vs Frankfurt's 3,706,698.
Where do Europeans fly internationally?
The largest international market is within Europe, with 86.6m seats, adding 1.9m seats and making up 67% share of the market in Oct 26. This is 2.2 percentage points higher than last year.
The second and third largest international market are North America and Africa with 10.6m and 10.4m seats respectively in October 26.
Travel to/from Asia Pacific grew at the fastest rate this month by 11.7% vs last year, adding 988k seats to 9.4m seats.
Capacity to the Middle East reduced by 10.6%, 1.1m fewer seats than October 25.
Capacity by destination region
Capacity to the Middle East reduced by 10.6% — 1.1m fewer seats than October 2025. This reflects continued network reconfiguration by European carriers on Middle East routes.
Travel to/from Asia Pacific grew at the fastest rate by 11.7% vs last year, adding 988k seats to reach 9.4m — continuing a multi-month trend of European carriers rebuilding long-haul Asian networks.
Within Europe itself, capacity grew by 2.2% to 86.6m 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.
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Overall capacity in the European market grew by 2% vs October 25 to 160.7m
International capacity grew by 2.2%, whilst domestic capacity increased by 0.9% vs October 25.
LCC capacity grew by 5.1% vs last year, whilst Mainline carrier capacity remained constant but still represents 60% of the market.