Brussels, 02/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - Although the London airport of Heathrow remains the busiest in Europe, it was the Ile de France region which saw the biggest number of air passengers in 2006. According to a study published recently by Eurostat, entitled “Regional passenger and freight air transport in Europe in 2006”, the two airports in the French region, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris Orly, received a total of just over 82 million passengers. Heathrow airport, which is situated in the Outer London region, counted 67.3 million passengers over the same period. The German region of Darmstadt, home to the airport of Frankfurt am Main, was in third place with 52.4 million passengers. For freight transport it was the Darmstadt region which topped the table, with 2.1 million tonnes of freight registered in 2006 at Frankfurt airport. The Noord Holland region, which includes Amsterdam Schiphol airport (1.5 million tonnes), Ile de France (1.4 million tonnes) and Outer London (1.3 million tonnes) were some way behind. The province of Vlaams Brabant in Belgium, which is home to Brussels National airport, came in fifth place with 714 thousand tonnes of freight registered, mainly thanks to the courier and parcel services provided by one company which has made the airport its hub. The Eurostat study also states that air freight transport volumes are limited compared to other modes of transport (railway, road, sea or inland waterways). However, air freight is growing steadily, particularly for mail and express parcels, perishable goods and articles with a high added value. The increase in volume of goods freighted between 2003 and 2006 was highest in the UK's Devon region. Exeter, the only airport in the region, registered around 6000 tonnes of freight in 2006, compared to around one thousand in 2003, which represents an average increase in volume of 93% a year. (A.By.)