Aena network airports in Spain closed September with a record 27.5 million passengers. That is 10.7% more than in the same month of 2022 and 1.5% more than in September 2019, the year before the pandemic that was the previous record year.
The airport operator announced this data on Friday. In September 2023, Aena handled a total of 225,183 aircraft movements, 7.7% more than in 2022; and 95,196 tonnes of cargo was moved, 14.6% more than last year.
Of the total passengers in September, 27.49 million were commercial passengers: 18.9 million travelled on international flights. That´s 12.7% more than in September 2022. Meanwhile, another 8.5 million passengers travelled on domestic flights, 6.8% more than last year.
The first nine months of this year
From January to September 2023, a total of 216.6 million passengers used Spain’s Aena network airports. That is 17.6% and 1.3% more than in 2022 and 2019 respectively. 1.8 million aircraft movements were recorded (+8.7% compared to 2022) and 776,328 tonnes of cargo were transported, 5.6% more than in the same period in 2022.
Highest number of passengers for Barajas
Data from Aena also shows that Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport recorded the highest number of passengers in the ninth month of the year. There were 5.3 million passengers, a 12.5% growth compared to September last year.
This was followed by;
- Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 4.59 million (+9.1% compared to 2022)
- Palma de Mallorca, with 3.8 million (+5.5%)
- Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 2.2 million (+20%)
- Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 1.5 million (+15.1%)
- Ibiza, with 1.2 million (+7.5%)
- Gran Canaria, with just over 1 million passengers (+9.4%)
Numbers of flights
In September, Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas was the airport with a total of 33,899 flights, (+8.1% on 2022), followed by;
- Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 28,455 flights (+4.8%)
- Palma de Mallorca, with 26,543 (+2.9%)
- Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 15,847 (+15.4%)
- Ibiza, with 10,087 (+3.1%)
- Gran Canaria, with 9,998 (+10.5%)
- Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 9,625 arriving and departing flights (+10.9%)
Cargo traffic
Also when it comes to cargo traffic, Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas ranks first, with 54,505 tonnes, 18.9% more than in the same month of 2022. This is followed by Zaragoza airports, with 14,327 tonnes (+37.6%); Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 13,504 tonnes (-2.1% compared to 2022) and Vitoria, with 6,145 tonnes (-4.1%).
