ARCHIVED - UK flights to Alicante airport in the Costa Blanca up 60 per cent in a week
Alicante-Elche in the Valencia region will operate around 100 flights to and from UK airports this week - up two thirds on seven days ago.
Relaxed travel restrictions have seen the number of flights to and from the Costa Blanca airport soar, according to Aena.
While the UK government is still warning against travelling to Spain as the country remains on its amber list, as of Monday, May 24, the Spanish government has lifted travel restrictions for British tourists.
And despite having to self-isolate for 10 days upon returning to Britain, travellers are returning to the Costa Blanca in their thousands.
On Monday, the Alicante airport had four flights to and from the UK, with a further 97 scheduled between now and Sunday, May 30.
Last week the airport operated a total of 62 flights.
In terms of airlines, Ryanair currently has the most frequent connections between Spain and the Costa Blanca terminal, with British Airways, TUI, EasyJet, Wizz Air and Vueling also in operation.
Low-cost airline Jet2 plans to start flying to Alicante next month.
Most connections are to London airports, but there are also several flights to Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow.
And though Aena has stressed the airport is by no means back to its pre-pandemic level of activity, hopes are high that Spain's vaccination campaign and the low incidence rate in several regions will mean the country will be included on the green list at the next review on June 7, giving it the boost it needs.
Yesterday, the President of the Valencian government, Ximo Puig urged the British Ambassador in Spain, Hugh Elliot, to put pressure on the UK government to "territorialise" travel restrictions.
Puig has argued that "the Valencian region is "in a position to get out of this nightmare" through a "great effort", and has stressed the need for mobility to be reactivated "sooner rather than later".