VINCI Airports – 2022 traffic levels

Airports in the VINCI Airports network welcomed almost 50 million¹ (over 56 million with OMA airports) passengers in Q4 2022, i.e. almost 17 million (or 18 million with OMA) more than in 2021 – down 17% (or 15%) from the same period in 2019. Over 186 million (209 million with OMA) passengers used our airports over the whole year – i.e. twice the traffic of 2021 – down 28% (or 25%) from 2019.

Passenger traffic¹ continued to grow in the fourth quarter, confirming resilience despite the particularly challenging economic outlook in Europe. Outside of Asia, traffic was almost back to pre-crisis levels in December (down by just 9%) and the recovery of international traffic had caught up with that of domestic traffic, a marker of the gradual return to normality. Airports across Portugal and in Belgrade in Serbia illustrated this growth, exceeding their pre-crisis traffic levels since October. The outstanding Q4 momentum (9% above Q4 2019 levels) of OMA airports in Mexico, new arrivals in the VINCI Airports network, has confirmed this market’s enormous potential, both domestically and to and from the US.

(Unless stated otherwise, all variations in the following paragraphs refer to traffic levels in Q4 2022 as compared to the same period in 2019)

Passenger traffic held up in Europe, despite an uncertain economic and geopolitical context. Traffic was particularly robust in Portugal with regards to connections to France, Spain and the UK enabled by significant development of low-cost airlines. Ryanair (up by 15%) rolled out a substantial winter programme at both Porto and its base in Funchal, while easyJet (up by 20%) added extra capacity at Porto and acquired new airport slots at Lisbon. Traffic growth at Belgrade airport in Serbia accelerated rapidly in this quarter – peaking at a 13% increase in December – thanks to flights offered by Air Serbia, Wizz Air and Turkish Airlines. In France, Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport made the most of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) traffic on certain international routes (with Porto up by 30%, Algiers up by 41%, and Istanbul SAW up by 36%) over the autumn half term and the festive season. At London Gatwick, after a slight dip in November, traffic picked up again in December – particularly to Spanish destinations such as Tenerife and Malaga. The airport continued to build back its range of long haul international destinations with several connections reopened over the quarter, such as to Vietnam, Costa Rica and South Africa.

Traffic at the OMA airports in Mexico remained far above pre-crisis levels, growing rapidly during the festive season. Traffic to and from the US was particularly dynamic, powered by the capacity of airlines such as American Airlines, Spirit and Frontier. Meanwhile, at Santiago de Chile airport, the upturn in traffic has been increasing since October as international traffic restrictions eased – leading to greater demand for certain long-haul connections in the Americas.

In Japan, domestic traffic has now completely returned to pre-Covid levels and international traffic is bouncing back since regional hygiene restrictions lifted and airlines resumed flights, including to and from South Korea. In Cambodia, traffic remained affected by the low number of flights to and from China, although certain international connections such as Singapore (down by 15%) and Thailand (down by 28%) showed significant growth over the quarter. The easing of travel restrictions in the first quarter of 2023 announced by the Chinese authorities should benefit these Asian airports in the coming months, although the pace of that recovery remains unclear.

¹ Excluding traffic from the 13 OMA airports in Mexico, which joined the VINCI Airports network on 8 December 2022.
² The traffic figures presented here for OMA airports include transit passengers and private aviation, excluding general aviation. These norms align with those used by all airports in the VINCI Airports network but differ from those used by the OMA company for its own communication.