Passenger traffic at European airports has increased by 5.4% during 2014, according to European airport trade body ACI Europe.

The EU airports reported 4.9% rise in passenger traffic, while non-EU airports posted passenger traffic growth of 7.3%.

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Figures released by the trade body highlight that freight traffic across the European airport network increased by 3.6%, while aircraft movements increased by 2.6%.

ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec said: "2014 was generally a good year for Europe’s airports and what really stands out is the fact that passenger traffic at EU airports significantly outpaced economic performance.

"What really stands out is the fact that passenger traffic at EU airports significantly outpaced economic performance."

"This shows just how resilient the demand for air transport is and reflects how much consumers and businesses rely on air connectivity.

"However, the year also saw the direct impact of geopolitical tensions with passenger traffic falling in Ukraine and slowing down sharply in Russia. This resulted in almost converged growth rates between EU and non-EU airports in the final months of the year."

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Airports are classified according to the number of passengers they welcome each year; Group 1 signifies more than 25 million passengers, Group 2 between ten and 25 million, Group 3 between five and ten million and Group 4 indicates fewer than five million annual passengers.

Group 1 airports that reported the highest increase in passengers include Istanbul IST, Moscow SVO, London LGW, Moscow DME and Barcelona.

Istanbul SAW, Athens, Brussels, Lisbon and London STN are among the airports in Group 2 with the highest increase in traffic.

Group 3 airports that witnessed the highest increases in traffic include Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, Lanzarote, Naples, Bucharest OTP and Porto.

Chisinau, Santorini, Belgrade, Mikonos and Maribor are among the airports in Group 4 that saw an increase in passenger traffic.

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