The Aena network registered 16.9 million passengers in the month of January, 2% more than the same month of 2019
Both airports and the tourism sector in general were poised to reach pre-pandemic numbers in 2022, something that was not achieved due to the poor performance of the first quarter of the year, when the omicrom variant still dominated travel. conditioned. Nothing to do with the good records with which 2023 has begun, since in the month of January pre-pandemic data were already exceeded at the Spanish airports of the Aena network.
According to data from the airport operator published this Monday, a total of 16.9 million passengers were registered in the Aena airport network in January, surpassing the data for the same month of 2019 by 2.1% before the pandemic broke out and all travel would be suspended. Compared to 2022, this means an increase of almost 63% in the number of passengers.
In total, the number of movements (takeoffs and landings) in January was 156,500, bringing the recovery level of activity to 98% compared to 2019, but improving the January 2022 records by almost 19%.
The recovery is complete in domestic travellers, with 6.13 million passengers, 7.3% more than before the pandemic. International flights remained 1% below 2019, with 10.72 million passengers, according to figures from Aena.
The airport that registered the most passengers in January was Madrid-Barajas, with 4.4 million passengers, 1.1% more than in the same month of 2019 and 65% more than in 2022. It was followed by Barcelona-El Prat, with 3.08 million passengers, still 6% below pre-pandemic numbers.
The 2019 records were also surpassed by Gran Canaria airport (2% more with 1.2 million passengers), Palma de Mallorca (2.3% more) and Alicante (1.3% more). But the large increase in passenger volume registered in January by Tenerife Sur airport stands out, 7.3% more than the data for 2019, that of Málaga-Costa del Sol, 10.5% more, and that of Lanzarote, 10, 3% more. The case of Valencia Airport is also notable, which ended the month with almost 587,000 passengers, recording the best January in its history, 8% above the 2019 data.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
