Historic congestion in European air traffic: in week 35 of 2025 (25–31 August), the EUROCONTROL area reached the highest weekly number of flights ever recorded.
Within the EUROCONTROL Network Manager (NM) area, responsible for managing European airspace, a new traffic record was set in week 35 of 2025. During the period of 25–31 August, the NM area reached the highest weekly number of flights recorded to date.
In the same week, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Austria recorded the highest daily controlled flight numbers in their history, while more than half of the countries in the NM area reached record daily flight volumes in 2025.
According to EUROCONTROL data, France set the highest daily traffic volume ever for a single country with 12,315 flights on 18 July 2025.
Air Traffic Boom in the Balkan Countries
Over the past two years, the Balkan countries collectively reached the highest levels of air traffic in their history. The main reasons for this growth include:
- Strong post-COVID-19 recovery and an increase in tourism,
- Increased upper airspace traffic due to airspace reorganizations caused by the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East.
Declining Trend in Western and Northern Europe
By contrast, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, and the Baltic States have not yet returned to pre-2019 levels.
According to EUROCONTROL’s baseline forecast, 2025 flight volumes in these countries will remain below 2019 levels.
The Baltic States and Finland, in particular, were severely affected by the closure of Russian and Belarusian airspace to European airlines. Additionally:
- Reduction in domestic flights,
- Environment-focused transport policies, and departure taxes (e.g., the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden – Sweden removed this in July 2025) contributed to the decline.
The suspension of operations by some airlines (e.g., UK-based Flybe and Thomas Cook) further reduced traffic volumes in these countries.
Impact of Political Instability
EUROCONTROL noted that political developments also significantly affect regional traffic. Ukraine, Moldova, and Israel reached their highest flight volumes in 2012, 2013, and 2018 respectively; however, subsequent conflicts have limited air traffic in these countries.
Increased Demand along the Southern Axis
As of 2025, countries along the Southeast and Southwest European axis have reached maximum flight levels, reflecting increased holiday traffic and a decrease in business travel. EUROCONTROL expects this trend to continue in the coming years.
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