Between January and March, the number of passengers exceeded 60.7 million, 13.2% more than in 2023.
Airports in the Aena network in Spain closed the third month of 2024 with a record-breaking volume of passengers and cargo in a single month of March, sustaining the upward trajectory seen since the start of this year and through most of the previous year.
In March 2024, which included Easter break unlike the previous year, Aena welcomed 22,857,159 passengers, marking a 13.8% increase compared to the same month in 2023; aircraft movements totalled 191,378, reflecting a 6% rise over 2023; and cargo volume reached 106,012 tons, up by 9.8% from the previous year.
Of the total number of passengers in March, 22,795,921 were commercial passengers: 14,987,650 travelled on international flights, 16.6% more than in March 2023, while 7,808,271 did so on domestic flights, 9.3% more than the previous year. During the first quarter of 2024, 60,750,987 passengers passed through Aena airports (13.2% more than in 2023), 524,525 aircraft movements were recorded (+6.8%) and 293,253 tons of cargo were transported (16.6% more than in the same period of 2023).
Passengers
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport registered the highest number of passengers in the third month of the year with 5,342,624, which represents a 10.8% growth compared to March last year.
It was followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 4,280,537 (+13.8% compared to 2023); Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 1,752,668 (+18.8%); Palma de Mallorca, with 1,529,030 (+13.7%); Gran Canaria, with 1,479,738 (+14.7%); Tenerife Sur, with 1,346,732 (+16.2%); and Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 1,267,879 (+21.3%).
In addition to the Aena network as a whole, during the month of March passenger records were broken at the following airports: Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, Palma de Mallorca, Gran Canaria, Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, Málaga-Costa del Sol, Seville, Valencia, Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna, Tenerife Sur, César Manrique-Lanzarote, Asturias, Bilbao, Ibiza, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Santiago-Rosalía de Castro, Menorca, Badajoz, Son Bonet, La Palma and La Gomera.
Operations
In terms of operations, the airport with the most movements in March was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with a total of 34,265 (+9.4% compared to 2023), followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 27,013 flights (+11.7%); Gran Canaria, with 13,221 (+13.3%); Palma de Mallorca, with 12,459 (+6%); Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 12,117 (+11.1%); Tenerife Sur, with 8,614 (+11.1%); and Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 7,890 takeoffs and landings (+16%).
In the second month of 2024, the airports of Palma de Mallorca, Fuerteventura, Málaga-Costa del Sol, Gran Canaria, Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna, Tenerife Sur, César Manrique-Lanzarote and Logroño achieved record movements.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
