Where Europeans fly in winter and summer (Eurostat, 2025)

TL;DR

Where passengers flying out of 18 European countries went in winter and summer 2025, from Eurostat, counting only destinations in the EU, EFTA and EU candidate countries. From Germany, Spain was first in both seasons. Long-haul destinations are left out because Eurostat's reuse terms for them are unclear.

Eurostat publishes how many passengers leave each European country's airports for each destination country, month by month. Below, for each country: where its departing passengers flew most in winter (January, February and December 2025) and in summer (June to August 2025), and the places whose year is most concentrated in one season.¹

Only destinations in the EU, EFTA and the EU candidate countries are shown. Eurostat's terms do not allow commercial reuse of data for other countries, and it is not clear whether flights to them are covered, so we leave them out: popular long-haul winter destinations are therefore missing. Passengers include visitors flying home and people changing planes, so these are not the same as residents' holidays.

From Germany

Passengers departing Germany by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Spain	2,451,854	Spain	4,525,968
2	Türkiye	1,569,274	Türkiye	3,890,489
3	Italy	1,014,375	Greece	2,147,565
4	France	613,655	Italy	2,111,635
5	Austria	546,928	France	981,380

Most summer-heavy: Montenegro (42.6% of its year in June to August), Croatia (42.5% of its year in June to August), Greece (42.3% of its year in June to August).¹

From France

Passengers departing France by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Spain	1,525,640	Spain	2,445,111
2	Italy	1,335,372	Italy	1,963,152
3	Portugal	753,888	Portugal	1,106,405
4	Germany	642,925	Germany	992,653
5	Türkiye	407,341	Greece	803,251

Most summer-heavy: Croatia (52.2% of its year in June to August), Greece (46.9% of its year in June to August), Albania (39.1% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Finland (32.5% in January, February and December).¹

From Netherlands

Passengers departing Netherlands by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Spain	974,030	Spain	1,568,142
2	Italy	446,251	Italy	704,151
3	Germany	404,761	Greece	550,023
4	France	320,692	Germany	469,494
5	Portugal	254,929	France	442,757

Most summer-heavy: Greece (44.5% of its year in June to August), Croatia (44.4% of its year in June to August), Iceland (32.1% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Austria (32.5% in January, February and December), Finland (29.4% in January, February and December).¹

From Poland

Passengers departing Poland by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Italy	625,270	Italy	1,028,469
2	Spain	622,412	Türkiye	928,413
3	Germany	418,503	Spain	903,445
4	Norway	264,697	Greece	821,516
5	Netherlands	247,334	Germany	611,123

Most summer-heavy: Bulgaria (64.1% of its year in June to August), Albania (60.1% of its year in June to August), Montenegro (56.7% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Malta (25.9% in January, February and December), Austria (24.8% in January, February and December), Ireland (24.1% in January, February and December).¹

From Belgium

Passengers departing Belgium by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Spain	726,930	Spain	999,744
2	Italy	388,418	Italy	584,395
3	France	170,697	France	306,972
4	Germany	155,173	Greece	302,826
5	Portugal	155,162	Türkiye	284,206

Most summer-heavy: Greece (43.3% of its year in June to August), Croatia (39.5% of its year in June to August), Türkiye (34.1% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Finland (29.9% in January, February and December), Switzerland (24.9% in January, February and December), Bulgaria (23.8% in January, February and December).¹

From Austria

Passengers departing Austria by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Germany	553,918	Germany	685,496
2	Spain	316,798	Spain	501,961
3	Italy	251,431	Greece	457,058
4	Türkiye	187,369	Italy	429,399
5	Netherlands	172,340	Türkiye	382,717

Most summer-heavy: Croatia (51.8% of its year in June to August), Greece (51.0% of its year in June to August), Montenegro (42.0% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Netherlands (30.8% in January, February and December), Finland (26.6% in January, February and December), Denmark (26.6% in January, February and December).¹

From Sweden

Passengers departing Sweden by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Spain	310,943	Spain	450,976
2	Germany	255,218	Germany	385,119
3	Denmark	206,731	Greece	308,178
4	Netherlands	154,302	Denmark	250,735
5	Finland	152,403	Norway	206,827

Most summer-heavy: Croatia (60.3% of its year in June to August), Greece (53.7% of its year in June to August), Cyprus (42.6% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Switzerland (27.2% in January, February and December), Belgium (22.8% in January, February and December), Netherlands (22.7% in January, February and December).¹

From Denmark

Passengers departing Denmark by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Spain	342,843	Spain	466,762
2	Norway	305,077	Norway	406,510
3	Germany	258,174	Greece	355,968
4	Netherlands	208,891	Germany	347,665
5	Sweden	193,232	Italy	323,964

Most summer-heavy: Croatia (60.7% of its year in June to August), Greece (53.2% of its year in June to August), Iceland (36.9% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Austria (27.4% in January, February and December), Switzerland (24.9% in January, February and December), Netherlands (22.4% in January, February and December).¹

From Finland

Passengers departing Finland by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Germany	214,627	Germany	224,586
2	Spain	205,772	Sweden	192,050
3	Sweden	153,486	Greece	136,041
4	France	116,831	Spain	129,922
5	Netherlands	103,128	Italy	118,472

Most summer-heavy: Greece (43.4% of its year in June to August), Iceland (31.7% of its year in June to August), Norway (31.6% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: France (31.3% in January, February and December), Switzerland (31.2% in January, February and December), Spain (30.0% in January, February and December).¹

From Ireland

Passengers departing Ireland by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Spain	532,571	Spain	1,065,203
2	France	206,905	France	410,422
3	Germany	206,486	Italy	364,445
4	Netherlands	184,734	Germany	312,966
5	Italy	172,559	Portugal	300,844

Most summer-heavy: Greece (48.4% of its year in June to August), Croatia (46.5% of its year in June to August), Portugal (34.5% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Austria (25.9% in January, February and December), Poland (24.4% in January, February and December), Hungary (24.1% in January, February and December).¹

From Italy

Passengers departing Italy by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Spain	2,275,918	Spain	3,392,260
2	France	1,321,438	Germany	2,130,222
3	Germany	992,182	France	1,982,097
4	Poland	614,705	Greece	1,430,828
5	Romania	533,431	Poland	1,031,366

Most summer-heavy: Greece (55.7% of its year in June to August), Croatia (49.6% of its year in June to August), Norway (42.1% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Moldova (25.5% in January, February and December), Türkiye (24.8% in January, February and December).¹

From Spain

Passengers departing Spain by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Germany	2,419,923	Germany	4,554,220
2	Italy	2,265,325	Italy	3,380,307
3	France	1,634,657	France	2,722,928
4	Netherlands	953,666	Netherlands	1,611,246
5	Portugal	703,537	Portugal	1,147,583

Most summer-heavy: Croatia (47.6% of its year in June to August), Greece (43.2% of its year in June to August), Albania (33.7% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Finland (29.7% in January, February and December).¹

From Portugal

Passengers departing Portugal by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	France	788,402	France	1,178,777
2	Spain	692,069	Spain	1,124,767
3	Germany	461,364	Germany	830,354
4	Italy	341,485	Italy	513,113
5	Switzerland	306,743	Switzerland	423,687

Most summer-heavy: Ireland (35.6% of its year in June to August), Norway (33.7% of its year in June to August), Greece (31.8% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Hungary (24.9% in January, February and December), Luxembourg (22.2% in January, February and December), Poland (21.6% in January, February and December).¹

From Czechia

Passengers departing Czechia by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Italy	204,994	Greece	367,980
2	Spain	184,147	Spain	317,458
3	France	131,717	Türkiye	304,852
4	Germany	84,913	Italy	250,270
5	Netherlands	83,020	Bulgaria	151,453

Most summer-heavy: Bulgaria (80.9% of its year in June to August), Greece (63.6% of its year in June to August), Türkiye (46.7% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: France (24.2% in January, February and December), Belgium (23.4% in January, February and December), Ireland (22.3% in January, February and December).¹

From Hungary

Passengers departing Hungary by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Italy	279,015	Italy	317,234
2	Spain	226,108	Germany	271,641
3	Germany	196,177	Spain	267,885
4	France	106,742	Greece	196,230
5	Türkiye	90,078	Türkiye	173,040

Most summer-heavy: Greece (48.3% of its year in June to August), Cyprus (35.2% of its year in June to August), Türkiye (35.0% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Portugal (25.3% in January, February and December), Switzerland (24.9% in January, February and December), Ireland (23.5% in January, February and December).¹

From Romania

Passengers departing Romania by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Italy	511,928	Italy	700,812
2	Germany	325,322	Germany	455,017
3	Spain	239,359	Spain	345,511
4	France	169,337	Türkiye	313,241
5	Türkiye	107,260	Greece	276,499

Most summer-heavy: Greece (55.6% of its year in June to August), Türkiye (44.1% of its year in June to August), Cyprus (36.8% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Denmark (22.6% in January, February and December), Poland (21.9% in January, February and December), Belgium (21.9% in January, February and December).¹

From Norway

Passengers departing Norway by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Denmark	307,192	Spain	420,666
2	Spain	290,731	Denmark	412,225
3	Poland	257,155	Poland	346,255
4	Netherlands	219,420	Germany	287,916
5	Germany	202,914	Netherlands	283,366

Most summer-heavy: Croatia (68.9% of its year in June to August), Greece (63.3% of its year in June to August), Italy (41.0% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Switzerland (25.7% in January, February and December), Finland (24.5% in January, February and December), Netherlands (22.0% in January, February and December).¹

From Switzerland

Passengers departing Switzerland by destination country, winter and summer 2025 (EU, EFTA and candidate countries only)
Rank	Winter destination	Winter passengers	Summer destination	Summer passengers
1	Spain	671,518	Spain	1,052,484
2	Germany	523,571	Germany	634,087
3	France	357,834	Italy	595,355
4	Portugal	354,404	Portugal	504,024
5	Türkiye	263,079	France	486,015

Most summer-heavy: Croatia (45.4% of its year in June to August), Greece (42.6% of its year in June to August), Norway (34.3% of its year in June to August); most winter-heavy: Finland (31.7% in January, February and December), Sweden (26.5% in January, February and December), Norway (24.2% in January, February and December).¹

For residents' own trips, see the pages for the UK and Ireland; for the weather, winter sun.

Key takeaways

Spain was the first destination in winter from 9 of the 18 countries shown, and in summer from 10.
Destinations outside the EU, EFTA and EU candidate countries are left out, so long-haul winter trips are missing.
What we would skip: reading departing passengers as residents' holidays; they include visitors going home and transfers.

Sources

Monthly passengers from Eurostat; season totals, shares and rankings are ours. See how we research.

Flights: Eurostat, Air passenger transport between reporting and partner countries (avia_paocc and avia_paexcc), passengers carried, departures, monthly 2025, doi:10.2908/AVIA_PAOCC, accessed 6 October 2026. Eurostat is not responsible for our calculations or for how we present its data.

Modified data: we summed months into seasons, worked out shares (rounded once) and ranked destinations.

Where people fly from Europe in winter and summer