Aena Group airports handle 33.5 million passengers in April

Aena reported continued passenger growth across its global airport network in April 2026, handling nearly 33.5 million passengers, up 3.6% compared with the same month last year.

Across its airports in Spain, Brazil and the United Kingdom, the group recorded 33,494,009 passengers, 290,393 aircraft movements (+5.6%) and 125,808 tonnes of cargo (+5%).

Since the start of the year, Aena Group airports have handled 114.8 million passengers, a 3.7% increase year-on-year. The operator said traffic in early 2026 also benefited from some travellers switching from rail to air transport following the January 18 train accident in Spain.

Spain: Growth Continues but Slows

Aena’s Spanish airport network welcomed 28.3 million passengers in April, up 3.7% year-on-year, although growth slowed compared with the 6.3% increase recorded in April 2025.

The busiest airport remained Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport with 5.78 million passengers (+3.3%), followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport with 5.1 million (+4.1%).

Strong growth was also recorded at:

• Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport: +9.5%
• Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport: +10.9%
• Valencia Airport: +10.7%

Meanwhile, traffic declined at:

• Gran Canaria Airport: -2.8%
• Tenerife South Airport: -8.2%

Cargo traffic in Spain was led by Madrid-Barajas with 65,851 tonnes, while Zaragoza Airport posted particularly strong cargo growth of 28.4%.

Brazil: Passenger Traffic Up 3%

Aena’s 17 Brazilian airports handled 3.66 million passengers in April, up 3%.

The strongest-performing airport was Congonhas Airport with just over 2 million passengers (+4%), while Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport handled 780,364 passengers (+3.2%).

Cargo volumes in Brazil rose 3.7% year-on-year.

London Luton Sees Moderate Growth

London Luton Airport recorded 1.55 million passengers in April, an increase of 2.5%.

Cargo volumes at Luton increased slightly during the month, although year-to-date freight traffic remains sharply lower due to overnight runway closures linked to resurfacing works.