UK airports show robust activity and resilience in the first half of 2026

Ground support activity in UK airports showed strong resilience in the first six months of 2026, with median daily active hours per monitored vehicle increasing by 75.5% year-on-year, despite an uncertain global geopolitical landscape, ongoing disruption especially in the Middle East, and higher fuel costs.

These findings come from the Targa Telematics Observatory, which periodically analyses data from Ground Support Equipment (GSE) – including towing vehicles, passenger buses, luggage carts, loading and unloading vehicles, and Ground Power Units (GPUs) – in the UK and several European countries. Across all markets in which it operates, the company recorded a 43% increase in monitored vehicles between H1 2025 and H1 2026.

With over 4.5 million connected assets under management worldwide, Targa Telematics is one of the world’s leading players in AIoT (Artificial Intelligence of Things) for the development of digital solutions and platforms for connected mobility. In addition to GSE, Targa Telematics provides services for fleets operated by rental and leasing companies, financial institutions, professional and construction vehicle operators, as well as the insurance market.

Alongside the significant increase in the median daily active hours per unit, Targa Telematics saw the number of GSE vehicles it monitors in the UK rise by 91% from H1 2025 to H1 2026, reflecting its expanding footprint in the sector.

Targa Telematics’ research is consistent with other findings highlighting the resilience of UK airports. Data from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) shows that passenger numbers increased year-on-year in both the first and the second quarter of 2026. In Q2, over 81 million passengers travelled through UK airports, an increase of approximately 120,000 compared with the same three-month period in 2025.

Among UK airports, Heathrow welcomed a record 40 million passengers in the first six months of 2026, with softening demand for the Middle East and considerable growth in traffic to and from North America and the Asia-Pacific region.

From a European perspective¹, the research from the Targa Telematics Observatory points to a gradual normalisation of airport operations, following the exceptional growth of the post-pandemic period. In H1 2026, Italy recorded a 4.24% decrease year-on-year in median daily active hours per monitored vehicle, which was influenced by a 6.7% drop in April. This decline, however, came against a broader slowdown across Europe, with April registering a 4% reduction in vehicle operating hours compared with the same month in 2025. Overall, in the first six months of 2026 Italy displayed greater resilience than countries such as Germany – where median daily active hours per vehicle fell by 6.8%, partly due to nationwide strikes – and France, where they fell by 22.49%.

¹ |The analysis of the European market excludes the UK, where the number of vehicles monitored by Targa Telematics substantially increased from H1 2025 to H1 2026.