ALICANTE – Over the past weekend, 15,000 passengers were scheduled on 118 flights, this number will double over the Easter period. All British arrivals are checked and tourists from other countries are randomly checked for negative Covid test results.
Up to April 5th, 30,000 tourists on just over 300 flights will arrive at Alicante-Elche Airport to spend their Easter holidays there. Thus, the gateway to the Costa Blanca recovers a small part of the activity lost due to the health crisis. The resumption of flights with Germany has created optimism in the tourism sector, which remains wary of surprises in this crisis.
Last Thursday, the first air movements took place after practically empty weeks for the airport. There were flights to and from Stockholm, Amsterdam, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Helsinki, Palma, Dublin, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, London and Bilbao. Last weekend, AENA scheduled 118 flights that brought 15,000 passengers to the terminal.
Far from normal tourist figures
All in all, the figures are still far from those of a normal weekend before Easter. However, they are the first real tourist movements of the year. The 118 flights on Saturday and Sunday represented a growth of 100% compared to the 55 flights in the weekend before. In the first two months of 2021, the passenger balance did not exceed 150,000 according to data from AENA.
Covid test result checks
AENA and the Foreign Health Department are enforcing measures in the arrivals hall. They are checking the negative PCR test certificate for all travellers from the United Kingdom and on a random basis for passengers from other countries.
The airport terminal is only accessible to passengers with a boarding pass. Family and friends waiting for arriving travellers should do so outside the building to avoid contact as much as possible.
Almost 85% fewer flights than in 2019
Between last Friday and Monday April 5th, Alicante-Elche Airport has a total of 598 flights scheduled. 160 of those are national with the remaining between Alicante and other European countries. Compared to Easter 2019 (2020 was completely stopped due to closed borders), the number of flights has decreased by 85%. There are 68% fewer national flights and 88% fewer international flights. It should be noted that 2019 was the best year in the history of the airport with 15.4 million passengers.
Train traffic
The Spanish railway company Renfe has planned a total of 40 journeys this weekend. They are spread over the high-speed AVE, Euromed, Talgo and Medium Distance services on trains connecting Alicante to Madrid, Catalonia and Castilla-La Mancha.
