The updated Eurostat data
Across the EU in March 2023 there was a 15.4% increase in commercial flights compared to March last year, however the number of flights remained down compared to March 2019.
Cyprus was one of five Member States to record a recovery but also an increase in commercial flights in March 2023 compared to March 2019 and the pre-pandemic period, recording the third largest increase in the number of flights compared to March 2022 and the fourth largest increase compared to February 2023, according to updated figures released by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.
At EU level in March 2023 recorded an increase of 15.4% in commercial flights compared to last March, however the number of flights remained reduced compared to March 2019 (-15.3%) although it recorded an increase of 16.7% compared to in February 2023.
In particular, in March 2023 a total of 4,720 flights to and from Cyprus were recorded, recording an increase of 6.9% compared to March 2019.
Increase compared to the same month in 2019 was recorded in March by Portugal (+10.7%), Croatia (+10.5%), Greece (+2.1%) and Bulgaria (+0.5%).
All other Member States continued to record a reduced number of flights compared to March 2019, with the largest decreases recorded in Slovenia (-43.2%), Latvia (-29.0%) and Germany (-28 ,2%).
The number of flights to and from Cyprus also recorded an increase of 29.5% in March 2023 compared to March 2022, following Sweden (+31.4%) and Bulgaria (+31.0%). Austria (+28.8%) and Slovenia (+28.3%) followed.
All member states recorded an increase compared to last year, with the lowest increases to be recorded in Belgium (+4.3%), Estonia (+7.1%) and Lithuania (+8.0%).
The number of flights in March 2023 also increased compared to February 2023 in all Member States. Cyprus recorded an increase of 26.2%, followed by Croatia (+31.7%), Slovenia (+28.4%) and the Czech Republic (26.8%), followed by Malta (+25.9%) .
The lowest monthly increases were recorded in Finland (+9.6%), France (+9.8%) and Lithuania (+14.6%) ).
