Strong performance in May 2018: 9.5% growth

This continues the positive trend observed since the beginning of this year, with a cumulative increase of 6.2%, or 2,430,000 passengers. This traffic is driven largely by the international airlines, which recorded an increase of 23.1% and accounted for 60% of overall traffic. Low-cost flights were the star players, increasing by 24.5%. National traffic dropped by 5.9%, mainly owing to strikes by Air France and air-traffic control, which resulted in the cancellation of 150 flights.

International flights continued to forge ahead, going up by 23.1%, or 376,000 passengers. 

• The Iberian peninsula performed particularly well: Faro +680%; Palma de Mallorca +75.9%; Malaga +50.9%; Barcelona +34.3%; and Madrid +25.1%.
• The Mediterranean islands also did very well: Santorini +400%; Malta +197%; Olbia +76.7%; Palermo +18.5%; Corfu +13%; and Catania making an excellent debut with 3,670 passengers for the month.
• Moving northwards, the British Isles recorded a solid performance (Belfast +256%; Liverpool +108%; Bristol +37.5%; Dublin +28.1%), as did Germany (Frankfurt +286%; Munich +33.6%; and Berlin +16.3%).
• The international hubs also showed good growth: Istanbul +24.9%; Dublin +28%; Brussels +9%; London Gatwick +6.6%; Lisbon +5.9%. Amsterdam, which is the Air France/KLM hub, reached a record of 30,800 monthly travellers; Zurich, the Swiss hub, handled 6,600 monthly travellers. The Air Transat long-haul route to Montreal displayed growth of 46%, following the addition of a third flight on Wednesdays. 

Domestic traffic was down by 5.9%, or 376,000 passengers. Disruption was caused in May due to 10 days of strikes. In total, 151 flights were cancelled, resulting in a loss of traffic of approximately 21,000 passengers and a 3.6 percentage point increase. 
Paris recorded a fall, while Corsica fared better, with traffic at the 4 airports served on the island going up by 30%, or 17,600 passengers. Other national routes displayed positive growth, particularly Nice (47.9%) and Lille (32.6%). 

Low-cost airline traffic continued to show remarkable growth, going up by 24.5%, or 293,000 passengers. The month’s star performer was Volotea – up 31% – followed by easyJet – up 24.8%, or 204,100 passengers.