Passenger growth nearly stalled in early 2026 as disruption in the Middle East offset continued gains across several other regions.
Global airport traffic reached approximately 4.7 billion passengers in the first half of 2026, just 0.6% more than a year earlier, according to an Airports Council International World report dated September 23. The figures mark a sharp slowdown following a record year for passenger traffic.
Global airport traffic reached 9.8 billion passengers in 2025, rising 3.7% from 2024 and exceeding 2019 levels by 6.5%. ACI had already confirmed those annual results in July; its September release adds a weaker picture for the opening half of 2026.
Middle East records steepest decline
Middle Eastern passenger traffic fell 21% in January–June 2026. ACI attributed the regional decline to the escalating crisis and airspace disruption, while identifying geopolitical tensions and rising costs as broader pressures on aviation.
Traffic continued growing in Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, while North America remained largely flat. Despite the steep Middle Eastern decline, worldwide passenger numbers still increased: the global figures represent slower growth, not an overall contraction.
The regional split shows why the first-half global result differed so sharply from the 2025 annual record. Growth across four major regions was enough to keep the worldwide total marginally positive, but it could not sustain the previous year’s 3.7% pace. North America provided little additional momentum, while the Middle East’s double-digit fall weighed heavily on the total. ACI cited geopolitical tensions, interrupted airspace and higher costs as pressures affecting the operating environment. The comparison also covers different time frames: a completed record year in 2025 and only the first six months of 2026.
What airport passenger figures measure
Airport traffic totals measure passenger activity rather than the number of individual people who fly. The figures include arriving and departing passengers, so a traveler taking multiple flights appears in the statistics more than once. The 9.8 billion total therefore does not mean that 9.8 billion different people flew during 2025.
ACI’s annual dataset covers 2,817 airports across more than 180 countries and territories. It provides a broad basis for comparing airport activity, although worldwide totals conceal differences between individual airports and regional markets.
Athens handled nearly 34 million passengers in 2025
In Greece, Athens International Airport handled 33.99 million passengers in 2025. Its network served 174 airport destinations, with 70 airlines operating during the year, according to the airport’s published figures.
Those annual figures provide context for Athens’s aviation market before the slowdown documented in ACI’s latest report. They cover a different period, however, and should not be treated as evidence of how the Greek capital’s airport performed during the first half of 2026.
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