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Date Published: 15/01/2024

Spanish airports welcomed 283 million visitors last year, the highest number of all time

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The number of tourists passing through airports in Spain was 3% higher than pre-pandemic 2019

Spanish airports welcomed 283 million visitors last year, the highest number of all time

The Spanish tourism industry exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts last year, blasting past pre-pandemic 2019’s figures by almost 3%. Throughout 2023, more than 283 million travellers passed through the doors of Spanish airports, the highest figure of all time and a staggering 16.2% more than the previous year.

In the words of the president and CEO of Aena, Maurici Lucena, these record figures in air transport are "fundamental for the economic and social development of Spain".

"We should all congratulate ourselves on them," he added.

This enormous success is bolstered by even more investment from farther afield. Last week, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary met with President Sánchez to outline his 7-year plan in Spain, whereby he will invest 5 billion euros in more routes and flights, improved aircraft and promoting smaller regional airports.

Of the total travellers last year, 282.3 million were commercial passengers: 189.7 million travelled on international flights, 18.2% more than in 2022, while another 92.6 million travelled on domestic flights, a 12.6% more compared to the same year.

See also: Corvera airport turns 5 years old today—A look back... and forward

Predictably, the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport in the Spanish capital was by far the busiest, handling 60.2 million people during 2023.

It was followed by Barcelona-El Prat, with 49.9 million (+19.9% compared to 2022); Palma de Mallorca, with 31.1 million (+8.9%); Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 22.3 million (+21.1%); Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 15.7 million (+19.2%); Gran Canaria, with 13.9 million (+12.4%); Tenerife South, with 12.3 million (+14%); and Valencia, with 9.9 million (+22.6%).

In December alone, Aena's airport network registered a total of 20.1 million passengers, 12.8% more than in the same month of 2022. Of these, 12.9 million people travelled from abroad, a 16.4% increase.

In other news: Ryanair wins the right to charge for cabin bags in Spain

Image: Freepik

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