Forecasting

Looking ahead together to prepare
for future traffic.

About

We work with stakeholders to produce a shared forecast of future network traffic. This helps planners understand and manage risks, identify bottlenecks and anticipate the needs of airspace users.

Products

Trends

We regularly publish reports, plans and forecasts highlighting air transport statistics and trends. Our European Aviation Overview, previously known as the Comprehensive Aviation Assessment, provides a detailed snapshot of the latest Network trends. It uses the latest traffic data to show how States, airports and airlines are performing, with further analysis of market segments, fuel prices, and delays. We publish it on a bi-weekly basis.

Medium-term forecasts

Our medium-term forecast gives a comprehensive picture of anticipated air traffic development in Europe, generally for the next seven years. It combines flight statistics with economic growth and models of other industry drivers, including passenger demand evolution, load factors, aircraft size, and airport capacity constraints. Using high- and low-growth scenarios, a likely range for growth is presented, to help planners manage risks. Medium-term forecasts are published twice a year, covering flights, en-route and terminal service units.

Long-term forecasts

Our long-term forecast presents possible scenarios on how the air traffic industry might look in 30 years and includes estimates of net CO2 emissions. This allows a range of 'what if?' questions to be explored, for factors inside the industry (e.g. the growth of business aviation, or of point-to-point traffic) or outside (e.g. the price of oil, or environmental constraints). Long-term forecasts are published on an ad-hoc basis.

Tools

AGL

EUROCONTROL Airline groups lookup

SID

STATFOR interactive dashboard

SUG Sharepoint

STATFOR user group workspace

Latest highlights

Eduardo Santander
Article

Travel in transition: aviation’s role in shaping the future of tourism

Steven Moore & Yolanda Portillo
Article

Preparing for Summer 2024: more traffic, disruptive weather but deeper and more effective collaboration

Banner showing a woman in an airport checking her phone
News

Latest monthly forecasts indicate continued growth over the next six months

News

EUROCONTROL predicts growth in aviation traffic over next 8 months

Press release

War in Ukraine and economic fallout delaying recovery in air traffic until after 2024 according to new EUROCONTROL 2022-2028 forecast

Aviation Outlook 2050
Article

“Aviation Outlook 2050: air traffic forecast shows aviation pathway to net zero CO₂ emissions”