Which airport was named the best in Europe for 2026?

The results are in and the winners of this year’s Routes Europe awards have been announced.

Spotlighting the continent’s airports, tourism authorities and airlines, the forum recognises best practices within route development, as well as achievements in airport and destination marketing.

This 2026 edition of Routes Europe took place in the Italian city of Rimini, where a total of six awards were presented.

Three awards were for airport excellence in route development marketing, while additional accolades were handed out to the destination that best supported airline partners and the airline which was most successful in developing successful and profitable routes.

The airport awards

Airport awards were divided into categories by passenger volume, including under five million, five to 20 million and over 20 million.

In the under five million passengers category, Florence Airport was named the winner, while Athens International Airport triumphed in the over 20 million passengers section.

After also being named best airport in the five to 20 million passenger category, Prague Airport was then selected for the first time as the overall winner by a panel of judges.

In 2025, Czechia’s busiest aviation hub handled 17.8 million passengers – marking an 8.5% increase compared to 2024 and even going beyond pre-Covid pandemic figures.

“Amidst substantial competition from European airports, both awards represent a significant achievement which we value immensely,” said Jiří Vyskoč, Executive Director of Aviation Business Development at Prague Airport.

Vyskoč added that the airport’s long-term strategy, which is based on open cooperation with partners, includes “not only on opening up new destinations, but also on increasing seat capacity and flight frequencies on existing routes, thereby strengthening our airport’s accessibility and competitiveness in the long term”.

The accolades are the latest success for Prague Airport, which also snagged the win in the 10-20 million passengers category at Routes World in 2025.

Prague bets on route expansion

As many as 46 new routes and 24 new destinations were supported by Prague Airport in 2025. The hub also welcomed 12 new carriers who established operations. That brings the current total number of carriers operating there to 89.

New routes include connections to Seoul with Asiana Airlines, Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways, Toronto via Air Canada and Sharjah with Air Arabia.

This year is also earmarked for more new long-haul routes to commence, including to Philadelphia with American Airlines and Taipei with STARLUX Airlines, which will be the Taiwanese carrier’s first link to Europe.

Third consecutive win for Jet2

The award for the best airline at Routes Europe 2026 went to Jet2, marking the third time in a row the British low-cost carrier has won the accolade.

In total, Jet2 flies more than 650 routes from 14 bases across the UK, and to more than 80 destinations. Its newest base, London Gatwick, launched with a flight to Tenerife in March 2026.

During its first summer of operations from Gatwick, Jet2 has 29 destinations across Spain, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Malta, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria and Cyprus.

The UK’s third largest airline has also added 37 new routes for this summer across its network, including three new destinations: La Palma in Spain, Palermo in Italy and Samos in Greece.

On the final day of the Routes Europe 2026 event, the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Municipality of Rimini, and Rimini and San Marino International Airport formally handed over 2027 hosting responsibilities to Fraport TAV Antalya Airport in Türkiye.