According to a traffic report published by ACI Europe on May 13, 2026, European airports recorded a 3.1% decline in cargo demand in March compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, passenger traffic rose by 3.8%, and the number of commercial flights increased by 1.3%. Despite the weak figures in March, the cargo sector demonstrated positive momentum for the first quarter as a whole: cargo volumes grew by 3% year-on-year, while passenger traffic increased by 4.3%.
Among Europe’s major aviation hubs, Frankfurt Airport maintained its leading position in cargo throughput, handling 179,782 tonnes of cargo in March – an increase of 1.1% over the previous year – despite passenger traffic remaining 15.6% below 2019 levels. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport handled 163,316 tonnes (–3%), and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol handled 128,281 tonnes (–2.6%). For the quarter, Istanbul Airport emerged as the undisputed leader in cargo volume, handling 494,032 tonnes (+10.3%). It was followed by Frankfurt with 477,207 tonnes (+2.4%), Paris with 474,428 tonnes (+6.8%), and Amsterdam with 361,829 tonnes (+4.9%). Heathrow Airport, with 378,421 tonnes, fell slightly short of its figures from the previous year.
Medium-sized airports demonstrated particularly high growth rates. Milan Bergamo Airport increased its cargo throughput by 64.4% in March and by 63.6% for the quarter. Václav Havel Airport Prague posted growth of 28% in March and 59.3% for the quarter. Positive momentum also continues at Luxembourg Airport, where nearly 75,000 tons of cargo were handled in March – a 2.3% increase compared to a year earlier.