BRUSSELS, June 4 (Reuters) - Passenger traffic at

Europe's airports fell in April for the first time since the

post-COVID recovery five years ago, reflecting disruption caused

by the war with Iran, said European airport trade body ACI

Europe on Thursday.

-- ACI Europe's traffic report for April 2026 showed that

passenger traffic across the European airport network fell by

0.7% compared to the same month last year.

-- That decline marked the first year-on-year drop in

passenger traffic since Europe's aviation sector marked its

first recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2021, added

Brussels-based ACI Europe.

-- "While we were already seeing a normalisation of passenger

traffic growth after the strong post-pandemic bounce back,

geopolitical instability - most notably the war in the Middle

East - is now further weighing on growth and exposing

significant differences in performance across markets," said ACI

Europe director general Olivier Jankovec.

-- The surge in oil prices resulting from the war in Iran has

hit the global transport and aviation sectors.

-- Europe's main airport companies which are listed on the

stock market include ADP. AENA, Fraport

and Flughafen Zürich.