New record-breaking figures from the statistical office of the European Union (EU), Eurostat, show that there were over 2 million commercial flights in the EU between June and August 2026. The data also revealed that whilst the number of commercial flights increased in 19 EU countries, there were eight countries recording a decrease in August 2026 (when compared to August 2025).
Commercial flights increased
Eurostat’s figures show that for the past three years, the number of EU commercial flights during the summer months have steadily and consistently increased.
The total number of commercial EU flights was 662,480 in June (up 2.1% from 2025 and 4.9% compared to 2024).
The numbers peaked in July, with 709,931 flights (up 2.8% from 2025 and 5.7% from 2024).
August recorded slightly fewer flights at 708,980 flights (up 2.3% on 2025 and 5.7% on 2024).
Ups and downs in the EU
When the commercial flight figures were broken down across EU countries, Slovakia came out on top with the most significant increase in flights in August 2026 (37%), compared with the same month last year. This was confirmed by the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR) which reported that Slovakia’s biggest airport, M.R. Štefánik Airport (BTS) in Bratislava handled a record 625,742 passengers in August 2026, marking the highest monthly passenger volume in its 75-year history. The top destinations from the airport were Antalya (Turkey), Barcelona (Spain), Rome (Italy), London (UK) and Kosice (Slovakia).
Malta and Estonia also recorded significant flight increases of 12.4% and 8.3% respectively in August 2026 when compared to August 2025.
The largest decreases in commercial flights in August 2026 flights compared to August 2025, were recorded by Austria (-4.7%), Germany (-2.4%) and Cyprus (-3.0%).
The Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) also recorded a fall in the number of tourist arrivals in August 2026 (581,880), down more than 3% from 606,026 in August 2025. This is an improvement when compared to overall figures in the year so far, as between January and August of 2026, tourist arrivals in Cyprus were down 7% on the same period in 2025. Whilst this was thought to be an ongoing effect of the regional instability and disruption to air travel during March and April 2026, the Cypriot Tourism Deputy Minister Kostas Koumis has stated he believes the annual decline will ease further by the end of the year.
Are you surprised by any of these new Eurostat summer commercial flight figures? Let us know in the comments below.
