Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Passenger traffic at Uzbekistan’s airports increased by 10.5% in August 2026 compared with the same month last year, according to Airports Council International Europe (ACI EUROPE).
Uzbekistan was among countries outside the EU+ area to record double-digit growth. Tashkent Airport saw passenger traffic rise by 16.6%, ranking third for growth among major European airports handling between 10 million and 25 million passengers annually.
Only Tirana, with growth of 20.7%, and Tel Aviv, up 19.5%, recorded faster increases among airports in this category. Ankara ranked fourth with 13.3% growth, followed by Venice at 12.7%. Passenger traffic across major airports overall increased by 4.8%. ACI EUROPE attributed much of the growth to the expansion of low-cost carriers and, to a lesser extent, new transatlantic services.
Among countries outside the EU+ area, North Macedonia recorded the strongest growth at 34.8%, followed by Montenegro at 28.6%, Albania at 20.7%, Israel at 19.5%, Armenia at 14.2% and Moldova at 12.6%. Passenger traffic rose by 8.1% in Kazakhstan, 6.2% in Georgia and 2.1% in Azerbaijan. Türkiye, the largest market in this group, recorded growth of 4.4%. Russia saw the steepest decline, with passenger traffic falling by 21.3%.
Across Europe’s airport network, passenger traffic increased by 3.1% in August, following growth of 3.9% in July. This marked a significant acceleration from the second quarter, when growth stood at 1.3% amid the war in the Middle East.
Airports outside the EU+ area recorded growth of 6% in August and 6.6% in July. In the EU+ market, passenger traffic rose by 2.5% and 3.4%, respectively.
Within the EU+ market, Slovakia led growth in August at 61%, followed by Slovenia at 19.3%, Estonia at 16.4%, Hungary at 13% and Malta at 12.3%.
The weakest results were recorded in Iceland, where passenger traffic fell by 9.3%, Austria (-6%), France (-1.7%), Cyprus (-1.5%), Norway (-0.3%) and Germany (-0.2%). Among the largest markets, Italy recorded the fastest growth at 5.2%, followed by Spain at 4.7%. Passenger traffic in the United Kingdom increased by 0.9%.
Istanbul Airport was Europe’s busiest airport in August, handling 8.6 million passengers, up 3% year on year. London Heathrow ranked second with 7.9 million passengers, down 2.1%, while Paris Charles de Gaulle placed third with 6.9 million, a decline of 1.1%.
“Passenger traffic growth during the peak summer months shows that demand for air travel remains resilient despite ongoing geopolitical tensions, deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, supply constraints and rising airfares,” said Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI EUROPE.
He warned that the geopolitical energy shock was likely to put further pressure on both supply and demand. Airlines are already reducing capacity and raising fares in response to higher aviation fuel costs.
Air cargo traffic through European airports was nearly unchanged in July, increasing by 0.3%, before rising by 3% in August. Aircraft movements increased by 2.7% in July and 2.2% in August.
