Air Service One – Bitesize Analysis of the Day – 10 January 2025 – Average aircraft size at Europes top 10 airports

Between 2010 and 2024 the average number of seats per flight at Europe’s top 10 busiest airports has increased by 19% from 163 to 194. The biggest percentage increases were at Munich Airport International (+29%) and Aena‘s Barcelona Airport (+26%) while the slowest rate of growth was at Royal Schiphol Group‘s Amsterdam Airport (+12%) and Heathrow (+13%).

According to AIR SERVICE ONE analysis of Cirium schedules data only seven airports averaged more than 200 seats per movement among European airports in 2024. Apart from Heathrow and iGA Istanbul Airport the other five airports were Targu Mures (235 seats per aircraft), Stockholm Skavsta Airport (209), ISG – Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (208), Poprad-Tatry International Airport (207) and Plovdiv International Airport Company (205). Wizz Air‘s use of its 230/239-seat A321s is the main reason that some of these smaller European airports feature.

Globally, several major hub airports recorded more than Heathrow’s 218 seats per flight. These included Dubai Airports‘ DXB (276 seats per flight), Doha (257), Singapore (240), Seoul Incheon (233), Tokyo Haneda (232) and Abu Dhabi (221).

In North America, New York JFK managed 176 seats per flight, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport 164 and Toronto Pearson 162.