From Business Insider · Pete Syme · · 2m
Eurosummer is booming. Here's where North Americans are flying.
Flight capacity from North America to Europe has surged 69% since 2010, with Italy, Spain and France leading growth and unexpected destinations like Naples and Czechia emerging as hotspots.
In brief
Flight capacity from North America to Europe has surged 69% since 2010, with Italy, Spain and France leading growth and unexpected destinations like Naples and Czechia emerging as hotspots. North American travel to Europe is expanding rapidly, with airlines adding sixty-nine percent more seats since July two thousand…
North Americans love European summers
Eating gelato under the Mediterranean sun or exploring medieval cities, North Americans increasingly choose summer trips to Europe. Business Insider analyzed aviation data to track this growing trend.
Seat capacity surged 69% in 16 years
In July two thousand twenty-six, airlines scheduled sixty-nine percent more seats than in July two thousand ten. The number of flights rose fifty-nine percent, from roughly fifteen thousand seven hundred to twenty-four thousand nine hundred.
Summer peaks are getting sharper
The summer travel season is becoming more pronounced than winter travel. In two thousand twenty-six, capacity increased seventy-seven percent between January and July, compared with fifty percent in two thousand ten.
Travel season is stretching longer
More people are flying to Europe later in the year. Spanish government statistics show Americans arriving in Spain increased fifty-seven percent between October two thousand nineteen and October two thousand twenty-five.
Italy, Spain and France lead growth
Three countries saw over one million seats added between July two thousand twenty-three and July two thousand twenty-six. Italy, Spain and France are Europe's most popular tourist destinations and received the largest capacity increases.
Czechia and Croatia double their capacity
Czechia and Croatia are the only two countries where airlines are sending at least double the capacity they had in the year ending July two thousand twenty-three.
Naples sees fastest airport growth
Flights to Naples, Italy, now have room for more than five times as many passengers as in the year ending July two thousand twenty-three.
Portugal and France airports surge
While flights to France as a whole saw only a sixteen percent increase in capacity, three French airports made the top ten.Portugal is also proving popular, with two cities on the list of fastest-growing destinations.
New routes launching to Portugal
Last summer, United launched flights from Newark to Faro, the capital of Portugal's seaside Algarve region.
The one thing
North American travel to Europe is expanding rapidly, with airlines adding sixty-nine percent more seats since July two thousand ten and summer peaks becoming more pronounced.
