Cyprus was the country with the third lowest reduction (9%) in commercial flights in December 2021 when compared to December 2019 and the period before the pandemic, according to data published by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office.

On average in the EU, the number of commercial flights were reduced by 24% compared to December 2019. However, the number of commercial flights in the EU increased by 130% compared with December 2020.

In absolute terms, the number of commercial flights stood at 383,720 in December 2021, compared with 166,990 in December 2020 and 504,270 in December 2019.

According to Eurostat, the air transport industry has been slowly recovering throughout 2021. Although the first months of 2021 showed no signs of recovery (January saw 68% reduction compared with same month in 2019, February a 73% reduction, March a 71% reduction and April a 70% reduction), the situation started to change in subsequent months.

In May, passenger flights were 67% lower than the same period in 2019), in June it was reduced by 54% and in August by 31%).

September saw a small dip, with the reduction being at 33% compared to the same month in 2019, but October (30% reduction), November (26% reduction) and December (24% reduction) saw the closest return to pre-pandemic figures yet when compared to the same month before the pandemic.

The EU countries with the lowest decreases in commercial flights in December 2021 were Croatia (6% reduction compared with December 2019), Greece (8% reduction) and Cyprus (9% reduction).

In contrast, flights decreased by more than 40% only in Czechia and Austria (both 41%). The rest recorded decreases of less than a third.

Overall, when comparing the total of 2019 with the total of 2021, the country showing the most signs of recovery in terms of number of commercial flights was Greece (29% reduction), followed by Cyprus (38% reduction) and Luxembourg (39% reduction).

On the other hand, Ireland showed the least signs of recovery (64% reduction), followed by Slovenia and Czechia (both 62% reduction).

Furthermore, some EU airports recorded increases in the number of commercial flights compared with 2019. The largest increases in the number of commercial flights were recorded in Berlin Brandeburg (13,521 or 16% increase), Liege (6,972 or 21% increase) and Paris Le Bourget (2,715 or 8% increase).

At the other end of the scale, the largest decreases in the number of commercial flights were recorded in major European air transport hubs: München (261,020 or 64% reduction), Frankfurt/Main (250,712 or 49% reduction) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (247,959 or 50% reduction).