Turkey, with its Istanbul airport, is the aviation market most affected by the crisis in the Middle East, with the European aviation network, however, showing considerable resilience amidst an ongoing geopolitical crisis.

This is highlighted in the latest analysis by the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, EUROCONTROL which documents the impact of the geopolitical crisis in the first quarter of 2026, also reflecting the performance of the domestic market: Our country and respectively Athens International Airport is ranked among the least affected markets among the 10 largest European markets with connections to the Middle East.

The situation is similar at the airport level: Istanbul Airport has dropped from an average of 98 daily flights in the first two months of the year to 46 (a 53% decrease), while at Athens Airport, flights to the Middle East decreased from 23 per day during the period January 1–February 27 to 14 during March 11–24 (a 41% decline).