Aena reported that during August its Spanish airports handled 29,890,357 passengers, a 9.5% increase compared to the previous year and a 1.4% increase compared to 2019, marking a historical high for the second consecutive month.
See also: Aena’s Spanish airports closed July with a historical record
Out of this total, 29,825,273 were commercial passengers, and in turn, 20,592,197 belong to the segment of international flights, an increase of 11.7% compared to August 2022, and 9,233,076 to domestic flights, representing a growth of 4.8%.
Regarding aircraft movement, the network handled 235,938 operations, a 5.7% increase compared to August 2022.
Air cargo, on the other hand, recorded a 10.6% increase compared to August 2022, with 86,809 tonnes of goods handled.
“The Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport recorded the highest number of passengers in the eighth month of the year with 5,559,790, representing a growth of 11.5% compared to August of the previous year,” Aena officials detailed.
“They are followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 4,974,579 (+11.4% compared to 2022); Palma de Mallorca, with 4,371,606 (+5%); Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 2,419,072 (+17.8%); Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 1,702,139 (+12.6%); Ibiza, with 1,435,874 (+5.5%); Gran Canaria, with 1,129,345 (+3.6%) and Valencia, with 1,072,418 passengers (+18.7%),” they continued.
Considering the number of air operations, “the airport with the most movements in August was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with a total of 33,811 (+7.1% compared to 2022), followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 29,854 flights (+7.5%); Palma de Mallorca, with 29,233 (+1.4%); Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 16,945 (+11.8%); Ibiza, with 12,513 (-2.4%); Gran Canaria, with 10,556 (+6.5%) and Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 10,468 landings and take-offs (+6.9%)”.
As for cargo, “the airport with the highest volume of cargo was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with 48,735 tonnes, a 12% increase compared to the same month of 2022. They are followed by Zaragoza Airport, which recorded 13,342 tonnes (+32.5%); Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 12,857 tonnes (-3.5% compared to 2022) and Vitoria, with 5,346 tonnes (-1.4%)”.
With these numbers, the Aena airport network has accumulated a total of 189,099,532 passengers between January and August 2023, a figure 18.7% higher than the same period in 2022 and 1.2% more than in 2019. Aircraft movement totals 1,608,918 operations, an 8.9% growth, while cargo increased by 4.5% with 681,132 tonnes transported during the first 8 months of 2023.
