Alicante Airport Continues August Record Boom

Alicante Elche Miguel Hernandez Airport has once again broke records for passenger number in August, with more than 1.7 million passengers passing through the Costa Blanca terminal.

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As reported by Aena, this is the best August recorded in the airport´s history, with a grand total of 1,702,139 travellers, the previous best figure was reached in August 2019 with 1,692,011 passengers. Furthermore, this implies an increase of 12.6% compared to the same month last year.

Of this total number of travellers, 1,699,038 corresponded to commercial passengers, of which 1,451,808 travelled on international flights, which represents an increase of 14.1% compared to August 2022. 247,230 did so on domestic flights, 3.9% compared to the previous year.

Breaking down international traffic by nationality, the countries that contributed the most passengers in August 2023 were the United Kingdom, with 581,304 travellers; followed by Germany, with 108,500; Netherlands, with 100,861; Belgium, with 84,530; and France, with 82,710.

Regarding operations, the Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport managed a total of 10,468 flights in August, which is 6.9% higher than the movements managed in the same period of 2022.

Perhaps the downside of this growing success is reliability. In August, more than 45% of the lights at Alicante were delayed, with 46 of those flights delayed by more than 3 hours. There have been calls for a second runway at the Costa Blanca terminal, along with promises of integrated transport systems such as trains and trams, but so far these projects are not a reality.

Ryanair operates the majority of routes from Alicante, but the August statistics show some 50% of their flights were delayed.  

Data accumulated during the first eight months of the year

The Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport registered a total of 10,487,688 passengers from January to August, which represents an increase of 20% compared to the same period in 2022. Likewise, in these same months it managed 66,881 flights, an 11.3 % more than the previous year. These data would confirm that for the moment the terminal is on track to exceed the accumulated data for 2019.

National data

Across the national territory as a whole, Aena airports reached a historical record for passengers in the month of August, with 29.8 million, 9.5% more than in the same month of 2022 and 1.4% more than in 2019, before the pandemic, the previous year in which a record was recorded.

In the eighth month of the year, Aena managed 235,938 aircraft movements, 5.7% more than in 2022, and 86,809 tons of merchandise were moved, 10.6% above last year.

Of the total number of travellers, 29,825,273 were commercial passengers. Thus, 20,592,197 travelled on international flights, 11.7% more than in 2022, while 9,233,076 travelled on domestic flights, 4.8% more than last year.

As for the accumulated figure, a total of 189 million passengers passed through the airports of the Aena network between January and August 2023, which represents an increase of 18.7% compared to the figures for 2022 and 1.2 % compared to 2019.

In this same period, according to a statement from the airport manager, 1,608,918 aircraft movements were registered, 8.9% more than in 2022, and 681,132 tons of merchandise were transported, 4.5% more than the same period of 2022.

The Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport registered the highest number of passengers in the eighth month of the year, with 5,559,790, which represents a growth of 11.5% compared to August of last year, but 4% below 2019.

They are followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 4,974,579 (11.4% compared to 2022); Palma de Mallorca, with 4,371,606 (+5%); Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 2,419,072 (+17.8%); Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 1,702,139 (+12.6%); Ibiza, with 1,435,874 (+5.5%); Gran Canaria, with 1,129,345 (+3.6%) and Valencia, with 1,072,418 passengers (+18.7%).

In terms of operations, the airport with the most movements in August was Barajas, with a total of 33,811 (7.1% compared to 2022), followed by El Prat, with 29,854 flights (+7.5%); Palma de Mallorca, with 29,233 (1.4%); Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 16,945 (+11.8%); Ibiza, with 12,513 (-2.4%); Gran Canaria, with 10,556 (+6.5%) and Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 10,468 landings and take offs (+6.9%).

Environmental impact

Spain, like many countries, is suffering the effects of global warming, from droughts affecting most of the country, resulting in water rationing, and sever flooding. Flying accounts for around 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions, but 3.5% when we take non-CO₂ impacts on climate into account. Aircraft are considered to be one of the most damaging elements contributing to the environmental impact responsible for the changing weather, and so, whilst from a commercial point of view this growth can be celebrated, from an environmental point, and the subsequent direct effects Spain and the planet are suffering, there is perhaps less cause for celebration.