Despite getting off to a slow start due to complications regarding the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, 2022 largely marked a year of recovery for Europe's main air hubs. Indeed, five of the continent's major airports handled more than 50 million passengers apiece last year, but which facility came out on top? Using data from Airports Council International, the picture becomes clear.

1 Istanbul

Leading the way in 2022 was Turkey's new Istanbul Airport (IST). Since its full-scale opening in April 2019, this facility has become a key transit hub, with many passengers taking advantage of its convenient location on the peripheries of both Europe and the Middle East. Last year, it served a total of 64.3 million passengers.

While the facility is not yet operating at pre-pandemic capacity levels in terms of passenger numbers, it is the closest out of Europe's five busiest airports. Indeed, its strong showing last year brought it to within 6.2% of pre-pandemic traffic volumes, and the airport will be hoping for similarly impressive, if not better, figures this year.

2 London Heathrow

While the UK's London Heathrow (LHR) was the busiest airport in Europe last year when it came to available seat kilometers, it ranked second by raw passenger numbers. Its overall total last year came to 61.6 million passengers.

American Airlines Tail & Heathrow ATC Tower
Photo: London Heathrow Airport

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Despite this promising showing, Heathrow still has a fair way to go before reaching pre-pandemic passenger numbers, as 2022's total was 23.8% lower than in 2019. Nonetheless, with traffic and demand only increasing, the UK's largest airport will be hoping to get much closer to pre-coronavirus passenger totals in 2023.

3 Paris Charles de Gaulle

Across the English Channel in France, the capital city's Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) saw Europe's third-highest passenger total last year. All in all, the facility handled 57.5 million passengers, with this figure representing a 24.5% deficit compared to the 76.2 million that it welcomed back in 2019.

That being said, CDG is well-placed to further its recovery this year. After all, Simple Flying reported in October that the facility had the most scheduled passenger airlines serving it of any airport in the world, boasting an impressive total of 96. It will be hoping to leverage this to handle as many guests as possible in 2023.

Paris CDG Airport Terminal Interior
Photo: Hans Engbers/Shutterstock

4 Amsterdam Schiphol

Fourth-placed Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) had something of a rough ride in 2022, with chronic staff shortages rendering the Dutch facility unable to handle the huge levels of pent-up travel demand. This prompted the introduction of passenger caps, which are set to be removed in March. While these restricted capacity, Schiphol still handled 52.5 million passengers in 2022 (down 26.8% vs 2019).

5 Madrid Barajas

Rounding out the top five we have Spain's Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD), whose 2022 passenger total came to 50.6 million. This made it the second-closest out of the top five in terms of the figure's proximity to that achieved in 2019. This year will see the likes of Aerolíneas Argentinas and Korean Air boost their presence in Madrid.

Source: Airports Council International