Record September at the BTS in Passenger and Cargo Transport
M. R. Štefánik Airport handled more passengers this September than in any previous September in its history. In the ninth month of the year, a total of 263,740 passengers were handled on arrivals and departures, a 18% increase year-on-year, beating the previous historical September record from 2018 (251,000 people) by more than 12,000 passengers.
“During the first three quarters of 2025, Bratislava Airport has already handled a total of 1,853,485 passengers, 16% more than in the same period last year. Since the beginning of the year, we have been observing double-digit growth in passenger numbers, which places M. R. Štefánik Airport among European airports with the highest growth. In comparison, airports in the EU generally grow by only 4 percent year-on-year, according to ACI Europe statistics,“ summarized Dušan Novota, CEO and Chairman of the Board of M. R. Štefánik Airport.
The airport in Bratislava has also recorded significant growth in air cargo transport this year. The number of handled tonnes of cargo in September almost doubled – up by 92% to a total of 1,783 tonnes.
In September, the most popular departures from Bratislava were to Antalya, London (including both Stansted and Luton airports), Hurghada, Larnaca and Alghero. A total of 3,016 flights were operated, that is, take-offs and landings of aircraft.
„Thanks to many new air routes, which will be added to M. R. Štefánik Airport’s selection by the end of the year, including for example daily connections to Barcelona and Košice, we expect to break historical monthly passenger records in the next three months as well, and likely achieve the strongest year in the airport’s history overall,“ Dušan Novota predicts.
OPERATIONAL RESULTS OF THE AIRPORT FOR THE FIRST THREE QUARTERS OF 2025
During the first nine months of 2025, 22,839 flights (aircraft movements) took place at M. R. Štefánik Airport – two percent more take-offs and landings than last year.
Cargo transport has also recorded strong growth of 68 percent year-on-year since the beginning of the year, with a total of 13,871 tonnes of air freight handled to date.
Among the leading outbound destinations from Bratislava in terms of passenger numbers this year are Antalya (Turkey), London, Hurghada (Egypt), Alghero on the Italian island of Sardinia, and Malta.