Bratislava Airport records highest-ever passenger numbers in May
M. R. Štefánik Airport in Bratislava handled a total of 398,639 passengers on arrivals and departures combined in May 2026, the highest monthly figure in the airport's history and a year-on-year increase of 131 percent compared with May 2025.
Bratislava Airport has thus confirmed a trend that has now lasted five months in a row – every month since the start of 2026, the number of handled passengers has grown at a triple-digit year-on-year rate.
- Passengers in May 2026
- 398,639
- Year-on-year growth (May)
- +131%
- Passengers Jan–May 2026
- 1,438,478
- Growth for Jan–May
- +142%
- Number of flights in May
- 3,797
- Flight growth (May)
- +55%
Year-on-year growth by month
- January: +127%
- February: +151%
- March: +163%
- April: +145%
- May: +131%
Airport CEO Dušan Novota said this sustained growth places Bratislava among the medium-sized European airports with the highest traffic increase. He cited the strengthening of scheduled routes following the opening of a Wizz Air base in Bratislava and increased flight frequencies by other airlines as the main reasons.
Bratislava Airport's growth is all the more striking given that, according to statistics from ACI Europe, the airports' association, traffic at European airports has rather stagnated since the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East. In April, European airports even recorded an average decline of 0.7 percent, the first such case since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most popular destinations in May remained the same as in previous months. Most passengers travelled from or to Bratislava via London, Rome, Barcelona, Košice, Malaga and Warsaw.
Those interested in the airport's current traffic can follow the development of routes and connections at Bratislava Airport (BTS) directly on our flight map.