E. Doga International Airport in Chisinau has been ranked among the top 5 fastest-growing medium-sized airports in Europe. In the first six months of 2026, passenger traffic increased by 21% compared to the same period last year.
By comparison, the average growth rate for European airports was only 2.6%. These figures were released by the airport association ACI EUROPE.
ACI EUROPE divides airports into several categories based on passenger volume. Chisinau is classified among airports with annual passenger traffic ranging from 1 to 10 million.
On average, airports in this category increased passenger traffic by 3.7% in the first half of 2026. In Chisinau, the growth rate was 21%.
The fastest-growing airports in this group were: Bratislava—by 122.7%; Skopje—by 28.6%; Trapani—by 28.3%; Varna—by 21.2%; Chisinau—by 21%.
Thus, Chisinau Airport ranked fifth in terms of growth rate within its category.
Moldova—Among the Top Performers in a Cross-Country Comparison
ACI EUROPE analyzes EU+ countries and other countries in the European aviation market separately. In the latter group, passenger traffic grew by an average of 2.5% in the first half of the year, while in Moldova it grew by 21%.
Only North Macedonia posted a higher result, with growth of 27.9%.
Next are: Albania – +17.2%; Uzbekistan – +15.7%; Armenia – +11%; Montenegro – +10.4%. By comparison, passenger traffic in Turkey rose by 2.8%. In a number of countries, however, it declined: in Israel—by 19.2%, in Azerbaijan—by 3%, and in Georgia—by 2.5%.
In the first six months of 2026, passenger traffic at European airports grew by an average of 2.6%.
However, growth was noticeably higher at the beginning of the year. In the first quarter, it stood at 4.3%, while in the second quarter it was only 1.3%.
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