2017 air passenger traffic in EU tops 1B

By Gokhan

ISTANBUL

Over a billion air passengers were carried in the EU in 2017, Eurostat said on Thursday.

The number of air passengers rose 7 percent compared to the previous year, it added.

Over the year, the largest number of air passengers was seen in the U.K., with 265 million.

The U.K. was followed by Germany (212 million passengers), Spain (210 million), France (154 million), and Italy (144 million).

The busiest passenger airport in the EU was London-Heathrow Airport, with 78 million passengers.

Other busy airports in 2017 included Paris/Charles de Gaulle (69 million passengers), Amsterdam/Schiphol (68 million), Frankfurt/Main (64 million), and Madrid/Barajas (52 million).

Separately, the number of passengers going through Turkish airports in 2017 reached 193 million, according to Transport Ministry data.