Busy skies: August commercial flights up 2.3% in 2026

Eurostat

Two suitcases in an airport, with a plane in the background.

Between June and August 2026, there were more than 2 million commercial flights in the EU.

August 2026 saw 708 980 flights, a 2.3% increase compared with the previous year and a 5.7% increase compared with 2024.

July was the busiest of these 3 months with 709 931 flights, marking a 2.8% annual increase and a 5.7% increase compared with 2024.

In June, there were 662 480 flights, a 2.1% growth compared with 2025 and 4.9% compared with 2024.

Source dataset: avia_tf_cm

In August 2026, compared with the same month of the previous year, the number of commercial flights increased in 19 EU countries and decreased in 8. The largest annual increases were in Slovakia (37.0%), Malta (12.4%) and Estonia (8.3%). The largest decreases were in Austria (-4.7%), Cyprus (-3.0%) and Germany (-2.4%).

Source dataset: avia_tf_cm

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Methodological notes

The source of this monthly data on commercial flights is Eurocontrol, a pan-European, civil-military organisation dedicated to supporting European aviation. Data on commercial flights include scheduled and non-scheduled commercial flights (passengers, freight and mail) performed under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). For more information, please refer to the methodological file.
Attention to methodological differences should be paid when comparing this monthly data with Eurostat data on passenger, freight and mail air transport collected within Regulation (EC) No 437/2003. For more information about Eurostat data collection, please refer to this methodological file.