Commercial flights within the European Union decreased by 15 per cent in July 2022 compared with July 2019, the summer before the pandemic, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU.

In Cyprus, flights during July 2022 decreased by 14 per cent compared to July 2019, which was slightly below the EU average.

In absolute numbers, a total of 595,965 flights were recorded across the EU and 7,626 flights were recorded for Cyprus during July this year.

The only country where there was an increase of commercial flights compared to the summer before the pandemic was Greece. A total of 70,071 flights were recorded in July in absolute numbers, which marks a 7 per cent increase compared with July 2019.

Flights decreased most in Slovenia, by 42 per cent compared with July 2019 (1,612 flights in July in absolute numbers).

Most flights in July 2022 were recorded in Spain (156,199 flights, a decrease of 7.3 per cent compared to July 2019), Germany (135,256, a 24.2 per cent decrease), France (123,323, an 11.8 per cent decrease) and Italy (118,825, a 9.5 per cent decrease).