Europeans are taking more flights outside the EU than they do within the continent or nationally.

The latest Eurostat report on air travel shows that in 2023, 49% of passengers travelled to countries outside the EU, compared to 36% within the bloc and only 15% nationally.

The data show that Paris Charles de Gaulle is the EU’s busiest airport – servicing 67 million passengers last year – followed by Amsterdam’s Schiphol with 62 million, and Madrid’s Barajas with 60 million.

London Heathrow, however, was the most crowded in Europe as it was used by 79 million passengers.

With 973 million passengers flying within or out of the EU in 2023, the bloc’s aviation sector seems to have bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of passengers grew in every single EU member state – particularly in Malta (+33.3%), Slovenia (+30.9%) and the Czech Republic (+29.4%) – a 19% average increase across the EU compared to 2022.

Other European countries reported even higher surges: +47% in North Macedonia and +38% in Serbia.

Meanwhile, most trips taken by EU passengers outside the EU were towards other European countries (57.1%).

When it came to travelling outside the continent, North America was the most favoured destination (11.1%), followed by West Asia (9.4%), North Africa (8.8%) and South America (3.1%).

Video editor • Mert Can Yilmaz