AENA accelerates towards a new year of traffic record in Spain, in which the estimate of 320 million travelers can fall short months before the end of the year. The first semester has resulted in 150.6 million users of the airports of the Spanish public network, which represents an increase of 4.5% compared to the first half of 2024. This growth rate before they started the weeks of the greatest activity of the summer season.
The volume of operations on the tracks (takeoffs and landings) has risen 4.7% between January and June, compared to the same period of 2024, until it is located at 1.28 million movements. The cargo transported also evolves positively, in this case with an advance of 5.4%, adding 637,551 tons with destination or starting point in Spanish airports.
Aena has completed his month of June with greater traffic, which already anticipates a summer of strong demand and generated especially by the tariff policies of the United States. The number of travelers has gone up to 30.48 million in June (+3.5%compared to June 2024), while 251,139 movements (+4.9%) and 107,599 tons of goods (+5.5%) have been counted. It is appreciated, however, the wound that Ryanair has left with its exit or activity cut in seven regional airports.
The leader for air traffic in Spain of second level infrastructure, while reinforcing in Madrid, Barcelona or Malaga, after trying to obtain Aena tariff sales. The threat was fulfilled and Santiago’s airport loses 13.5% of travelers in the first semester, with a 10.4% decrease alone in June; Santander leaves 4.2% in the six months, and 4% in the last of them; Vigo traffic declines 6.8% in June, but the infrastructure still improves its data by 14.4% in the complete semester; Zaragoza also endures with a 2.1% rise in the six months, despite lowering 5.7% in June compared to the same month of 2024, and Asturias uses the presence of Volotea to grow 2.4% in the accumulated of the year and take an impulse of 3.4% in June. The adjustment of the low cost Irish is felt more serious in the two airports that it has stopped using: Valladolid collapses in number of passengers 57% since January, and 77% only in June, while Jerez loses 7.6% of its users in the year and 11.6% in the month that the first semester has closed. Both depended greatly on Ryanair, so Aena seeks substitutes to rearm her routes.
Better pace in tourists
Among the great airports of the Spanish network, disparate behaviors are appreciated depending on whether they have a greater or lesser tourist profile. Madrid-Barojas leads as always the table by number of users, with 5.8 million in June and a growth of 0.5%, while Barcelona-El Prat looks more: it raises its traveler’s number 4.7% and touches 5.3 million, to which the reinforcements of Vueling in the short and a half radio contribute, and the entrance of new long distance routes.
Palma de Mallorca airport improves its traffic by 1.7%, up to 4.2 million passengers; Malaga-Costa del Sol exceeds 2.6 million after a jump of 8.2% compared to June 2024, and Alicante also advances 8.2% and stands at 1.9 million travelers.
Aena emphasizes that last June was the best of the historical series in 20 of its airports, including the five mentioned and those of Ibiza, Gran Canaria, Valencia, Tenerife Sur, Sevilla, Lanzarote, Bilbao, Tenerife Norte, Menorca, Fuerteventura, Asturias, Melilla, La Gomera, Badajoz and Son Bonet.
From the statistics of the airport manager, the slight fall of operations in Barajas stands out, which with 36,295 take -offs and landings throughout June loses 0.1% compared to June 2024. The data contrasts with the 4.3% increase in the Prat, where 32,710 flights have registered. Up to 15 airports have broken their best operations record for a month of June.
The company chaired by Maurici Lucena will propose, and prepares the third airport regulation document (Dora 3) that will include traffic estimates, investments and the tariff path for the 2027-2031 period.
The accumulated traffic between January and June scale to 180.9 million travelers (+4.7%) if the places that Aena manage outside Spain are included. Almost 22 million passengers have passed through the airports of Brazil, which implies a step forward of 6.3% despite the fact that the airplane traffic has fallen by 5.8%, to 221,861 operations. London-Luton, meanwhile, accumulates 8.3 million travelers in the first semester (+5.1%) rising to 65,000 movements (+1.9%).
