The summer season of 2024 is approached with optimism in the Spanish air sector, marked by a significant increase in flight scheduling. Aena, manager of 46 airports in Spain, has announced that airlines have scheduled 243 million seats and about 1.4 million commercial operations in its airport network, representing an increase of 7.9% in seats and 7.7% in operations compared to the previous summer season.
Among the airports with the highest increase in seat offer are Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with 48.2 million seats (a 6.8% increase from 2023), and Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 42.2 million (an 11% increase). They are followed by Palma de Mallorca, with an increase of 8.3% up to 33.2 million seats; Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 20 million (+10.9%); Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 14.2 million (+13.1%); Gran Canaria and Ibiza, both with 9.8 million but with growths of 11.6% and 4% respectively.
Interest also extends to the international sphere, highlighting the strengthening of routes to United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy, with increases in flight scheduling of 8.3%, 5.9%, and 22% respectively, reflecting a clear commitment to enhancing connectivity with these key markets.
Aena has also launched a package of incentives aimed at fostering activity in its airports with fewer than 3 million passengers in 2023. The airports benefited by these measures are Asturias, Girona-Costa Brava, La Palma, A Coruña, Seve Ballesteros-Santander, Vigo, Reus, Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén, Jerez, A.I. Región de Murcia, Almería, Zaragoza, Melilla, San Sebastián, Vitoria, El Hierro, Valladolid, Pamplona, La Gomera, Ceuta, Badajoz, León, Algeciras, Salamanca, Logroño-Agoncillo, Son Bonet, Sabadell, Córdoba, Burgos, Albacete, Madrid-Cuatro Vientos, and Huesca-Pirineos.
These measures exempt airlines from paying the passenger fee for all additional travelers to those of 2023 for three consecutive years and maintain annual incentives for the heliports of Algeciras and Ceuta, in addition to continuing to apply the incentives for the Airport of La Palma since the volcano crisis.
On the other hand, Aena also indicated that incentives for opening new destinations at airports with more than 3 million passengers will be maintained until March 2027, and growth is encouraged compared to the equivalent previous season for routes with Asia.
See also: [Ranking] The busiest routes between Spain and Latin America and the Caribbean in 2023
The tariff increase for 2024 is set at 4.09%, equivalent to 40 euro cents per passenger on average throughout Spain, a figure that, according to Aena, reflects a competitive and accessible pricing policy. Since 2015, Aena‘s tariffs have experienced a nominal reduction of 11% in a context where inflation reached 21%, translating into a real decrease of 32% in the period between 2015 and 2023.
Despite these positive figures and incentive measures, the sector faces constant challenges, such as the adaptability of flight schedules and the real effectiveness of the policies implemented to encourage a more equitable use of the Spanish airport infrastructure.
