- Through August of this year, the cumulative recovery for passenger traffic stood at 32.2%
- Aircraft operations number some 189,000 movements
In August, the airports in Aena’s network handled 18,011,330 passengers and 189,070 aircraft movements, equivalent to recovering over 60% of the traffic for the same month in 2019, before the pandemic. The cumulative amount through August equates to a 32.2% recovery in traffic compared to 2019.
Operations
The airport that registered the largest number of operations in August was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with a total of 23,371, down 37.1% compared to August 2019. It was followed by Palma de Mallorca with 23,243 movements (-19.3%); Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 21,857 (-33.1%); Malaga-Costa del Sol, with 13,033 (-16.7%); Ibiza, with 12,160 (-0.8%); Gran Canaria, with 8,699 (-18%); Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 7,828 (-27.2%); Valencia, with 6,645 (-10.3%); Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna, with 5,947 (-12.4%); and Menorca, with 5,247 (-5.3%).
All the terminals at Aena’s airports are in service due to the increase in demand during the summer season, and this after some of them closed due to the collapse in passenger traffic, when mobility restrictions went into effect. By fully reopening its facilities, Aena is providing services to airlines so they can operate their routes, guaranteeing service quality while complying with health measures.
Passengers
As for passenger traffic, 17,930,455 people travelled on commercial flights, 7,631,734 of them on flights from or to a Spanish airport (7.9% less than in 2019), and 10,298,721 from or to an airport abroad (-51.2%).
By airport, Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas accounted for the largest number of users, with 2,971,070, a decrease of 48.7% compared to August 2019. It was followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 2,853,548 (-47.3%); Palma de Mallorca, with 2,651,100 (-38.1%); Malaga-Costa del Sol, with 1,400,183 (-36.5%); Ibiza, with 1,016,485 (-26.1%); Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 938,204 (-44.6%); Gran Canaria, with 782,670 (-27.7%); and Valencia, with 666,894 (-25%).
Cargo
As for freight traffic, the airports in Aena’s network handled 79,746 tonnes, 4.8% less than in 2019. The airport with the most cargo traffic was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with 41,948 tonnes, 5.4% less than in 2019. Behind it were the airports of Zaragoza, with 16,203 tonnes (+3.8%); Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, which handled 10,604 tonnes (-19.6%); and Vitoria, with 4,993 tonnes and a significant increase of 21.4%.
Cumulative through August
In the first eight months of 2021, 60,223,058 passengers passed through the airports in Aena’s network, 67.8% less than in 2019; 892,063 aircraft movements were recorded, 44.3% less, and 612,985 tonnes of cargo were transported, a decrease of 8.8%.
In light of the fact that the state of the alarm declared in Spain in 2020 lasted until 21 July, with the ensuing home lockdown and the prohibition on all non-essential travel, and that the pandemic entailed restrictions on mobility around the world, the comparison with the 2020 data has been eliminated, as this year is considered an outlier. (For example, compared to 2020, the figures show an increase of 101.2% in passenger traffic, 32.2% in operations and 33.2% in cargo).
