European air connectivity almost stagnated in 2025, IATA warns of high costs and regulatory pressure
European air connectivity in 2025 grew only symbolically, even though air traffic on the continent continued to recover and expand in the number of flights. According to data published on 21 May 2026 by the International Air Transport Association, known as IATA, the total number of scheduled commercial routes connecting the European continent, within Europe and with the rest of the world, increased by only 1 percent. IATA describes this result as an almost complete halt in network growth, especially compared with the average annual growth of 1.5 percent over the last decade. The association also warns that weak growth cannot be viewed only as a matter of travel demand, but also as a consequence of operating costs, regulatory obligations and the broader debate on the competitiveness of the European economy.
According to IATA, 1,127 routes were cancelled in the European Union during 2025, while 1,281 were added. However, of the added routes, 568 related to the relaunch of services that had already operated in the last decade but had meanwhile been paused for at least one year. The net gain was therefore 154 routes, bringing the total network to 14,797 routes. This ratio shows that part of the market expansion was actually the return of previously lost connections, and not exclusively the opening of new markets and new city pairs. For passengers, businesses, the tourism sector and regional communities, this means that the choice of direct connections grew much more slowly than would have been expected in the period after the pandemic disruption.
IATA: airline networks depend on demand, but also on the business environment
Thomas Reynaert, IATA's Senior Vice President for External Affairs, assessed that the growth of airline networks reflects both the movement of demand and the conditions in which airlines operate. According to his statement published alongside IATA's data, the almost complete halt in connectivity growth in the European Union is not surprising because the regulatory burden and costs are high, while the underlying competitiveness problems have not been seriously addressed. IATA particularly highlights passenger rights regulations, the costs of sustainable aviation fuels, airport and air navigation charges, slot rules in crisis periods, and national passenger taxes.
In IATA's interpretation, the number of routes is not only a statistical indicator of the aviation market, but also a measure of economic openness. Each new direct service reduces travel time, increases destination accessibility and can create additional demand in tourism, business travel, logistics and services. Conversely, route closures or the slow rebuilding of the network particularly affect smaller and regional airports, where one service can represent an important connection with larger economic centres. IATA states that air transport and aviation-related tourism in the European Union generate more than 9.2 million jobs and around EUR 760 billion in GDP, which is the main reason why the association is calling for changes to the regulatory framework.
In its report on regional air connectivity in the European Union, IATA further emphasises that regional routes are often important for remote communities, but are at the same time among the most sensitive to external economic pressures. According to the same overview, 91 percent of routes cancelled in 2025 had fewer than 20,000 seats per year. This suggests that the most vulnerable are precisely routes with a smaller traffic volume, which can be crucial for local accessibility but give carriers less commercial room for manoeuvre. In 2025, 382 airports had scheduled flights, and 69 percent of the airports in this overview were classified as regional.
Growth in the number of flights does not automatically mean growth in connectivity
Eurocontrol data for 2025 show that traffic in the European network continued to recover, but this does not cancel out IATA's assessment of weak route growth. According to Eurocontrol's annual overview, 11.1 million flights were recorded in the area covered by the Network Manager, 4.1 percent more than in 2024. On a daily basis, after adjustment for the leap year 2024, growth was estimated at 4.3 percent. The main traffic flow was within Europe, with an average of 23,305 daily flights in 2025, 3 percent more than a year earlier, while intercontinental flows grew by 8 percent, to an average of 6,293 daily flights.
The difference between growth in the number of flights and weak growth in the number of routes is important for understanding the market. Airlines can increase the number of frequencies on existing routes, use larger aircraft or concentrate capacity at more profitable hubs, while the overall destination network grows very slowly. This can be a rational business decision in conditions of limited aircraft, expensive fuel, parts shortages, high operating costs and regulatory uncertainty. For passengers, however, a larger number of flights on already established corridors does not bring the same benefits as the opening of new direct connections, especially if travel still requires a transfer or significantly longer routes.
Eurocontrol also recorded different dynamics among market segments in 2025. Low-cost carriers had the largest market share in Europe, 35.2 percent, only slightly higher than traditional carriers with 34.7 percent. The regional segment had a share of 12 percent and declined by one percentage point compared with 2024. These data support the broader picture of a market in which the recovery of overall traffic does not necessarily mean an even recovery of all regions, route types and local airports. Connectivity, especially outside the largest hubs, is measured by whether available, regular and commercially sustainable direct connections exist.
The regulatory dispute over passenger rights remains one of the key issues
One of the points to which IATA gives particular warning is Regulation 261/2004, the European regulation laying down common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellation or long delay. According to the text of the regulation published in the official database of European Union law, EUR-Lex, the aim of action by the European Community in the field of air transport was, among other things, to ensure a high level of passenger protection. Over the years, the regulation has become one of the best-known passenger protection instruments in air transport, but at the same time it has remained the subject of dispute between consumer organisations, carriers, national governments and European institutions.
IATA argues that the existing system creates significant costs and legal complexity for carriers and advocates a reform that would, among other things, increase the time thresholds for compensation in the case of delays. This position is opposed by the arguments of consumer protection organisations, which warn that higher thresholds could reduce the number of passengers entitled to compensation. According to reports by European media from 2025, European Union member states reached a political agreement on changes to compensation rules for delays, but the procedure was not completed without debate and criticism. For airlines, the issue is directly linked to operating costs, while for passengers it is linked to the level of protection in situations when flights are delayed or cancelled.
For this reason, the debate on Regulation 261 cannot be reduced only to the business interest of the industry. On the one hand, clear and enforceable passenger rights are important for confidence in air transport, especially in periods of disruption. On the other hand, excessive or unpredictable costs, according to carriers' arguments, can affect decisions on flight frequency, the opening of new routes and the maintenance of marginally profitable routes. In its latest release, IATA presents this relationship as one of the factors making network expansion in Europe more difficult. The final political decision on the balance between passenger protection and carriers' cost sustainability therefore remains an important element of the European Union's broader transport policy.
Sustainable fuels bring a climate obligation and a cost challenge
The second major issue that IATA links to costs is sustainable aviation fuel, known as SAF. Within the ReFuelEU Aviation initiative, the European Commission states that increased use of sustainable aviation fuels is one of the most important tools for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in aviation. This measure is part of the Fit for 55 package, through which the European Union seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030. The rules gradually oblige fuel suppliers to increase the share of sustainable fuels in conventional aviation fuel delivered at European Union airports.
According to the European Commission, ReFuelEU Aviation sets increasing requirements for the share of sustainable fuels and seeks to ensure more equal conditions in the market. IATA, however, is calling for a reduction in SAF costs and proposes the introduction of a so-called book-and-claim model, under which airlines could purchase sustainable fuel where it is produced most efficiently, regardless of the physical location where the aircraft is refuelled. The association also proposes that revenues from the emissions trading system be used for cheaper SAF production. According to IATA, such an approach should help align climate goals with the commercial sustainability of air carriers.
For European transport policy, this is a sensitive issue because the decarbonisation of aviation requires investment, technological development and a secure supply of fuels that are more expensive and less available than conventional kerosene. If costs rise too quickly, some carriers could pass them on to passengers, reduce capacity or plan new routes more cautiously. If obligations are postponed or eased without a clear alternative, the European Union risks slower progress towards climate goals. IATA's objection is therefore not directed against the goal of reducing emissions itself, but against the way in which, according to the industry's view, the cost of the transition is distributed among air carriers.
Regional airports remain the most exposed to pressure
The most sensitive part of the debate concerns regional airports and routes with a smaller number of seats. IATA's regional overview for the European Union shows that routes with fewer than 20,000 seats per year accounted for 44 percent of the network in 2025, while in 2015 they accounted for 50 percent. The total number of routes in the same decade increased from 12,766 to 14,797, which means growth of 16 percent, but the structure of the network changed. According to IATA's data, 38 percent of routes in 2025 differed from those in 2015, showing significant variability over the ten-year period.
Such variability can be a normal consequence of market competition, changes in demand and carriers' adjustments, but for smaller communities it can have far greater consequences than for large cities. Large airports can more easily replace a lost service with another company, a greater number of transfers or additional frequencies on existing routes. Regional airports often have a smaller choice of carriers, greater seasonality and a weaker negotiating position. If costs increase, a carrier will sooner cancel a route with a thin margin than one that connects major hubs and has stable business demand.
For local economies, this can mean weaker accessibility, fewer tourist arrivals from direct markets, more difficult investment attraction and greater reliance on road or rail transport. In remote or peripheral areas, an air connection can also have a broader social function, especially when alternatives are not fast or reliable. IATA therefore emphasises in the report that regional air links are often vital lifelines, but also among the most vulnerable to economic pressures. The debate on costs and regulation therefore does not concern only airlines' balance sheets, but also territorial connectivity and access to services.
What IATA is asking of European decision-makers
Alongside the publication of the data, IATA listed several measures it considers priorities for European decision-makers. The first is the reform of Regulation 261 on passenger rights, especially an increase in the time thresholds for compensation. The second is a reduction in the costs of sustainable aviation fuels, including the book-and-claim model and the use of emissions trading revenues to encourage cheaper production. The third is strengthening the regulation of charges by airports and air navigation service providers for greater cost efficiency. IATA is also calling for greater flexibility in slot rules during crisis periods and the abolition of national passenger taxes, citing Sweden as an example.
These measures reflect the broader position of the aviation industry that Europe must simultaneously preserve high standards of safety, consumer protection and environmental protection, but also avoid a regulatory model that would reduce carriers' incentive to grow. Critics of such an approach may warn that some of the industry's demands mean a weakening of passenger rights or a slowing of climate obligations. That is why it is crucial that every reform be assessed according to its effects on passengers, competition, regional accessibility, emissions and costs. Simply lowering obligations would not necessarily solve the connectivity problem, just as additional regulation without a cost assessment would not necessarily increase service quality.
The data for 2025 show that the European aviation market is not at a standstill in terms of the number of flights, but it is under pressure when the breadth of the network is considered. In a year in which the number of flights in the European network grew, the number of routes in the European Union increased by only 1 percent. This is the main reason why IATA warns that competitiveness and connectivity must be considered together. For European institutions, the challenge will be to find a framework in which passenger rights, the climate transition and the financial sustainability of carriers do not exclude one another, but are aligned with the need for European regions to remain connected.
Sources:
- International Air Transport Association (IATA) – release on the stagnation of European air connectivity in 2025, the number of added and cancelled routes, and proposed measures for European policies (link)
- International Air Transport Association (IATA) – overview of regional air connectivity in the European Union for 2025, including data on regional airports, routes with fewer than 20,000 seats per year and network changes (link)
- EUROCONTROL – annual overview of European air traffic for 2025, including data on the total number of flights, main traffic flows and market segments (link)
- EUR-Lex – text of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 on common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellation or long delay (link)
- European Commission – official information on the ReFuelEU Aviation initiative and the obligations for the gradual increase in the share of sustainable aviation fuels (link)