December ended with an almost full recovery of 98.1% compared to the same month in 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic
The airports in the Aena network closed 2022 with a total of 243,681,775 passengers, representing an 88.5% recovery in passenger traffic compared to 2019, the last year before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the month of December, the recovery was close to 100%, standing at 98.1% compared to the same month in 2019, with a total of 17,897,162 passengers.
Annual Balance Sheet
Throughout the year, the number of aircraft movements was 2,216,327, representing a recovery of 93.9% over 2019. Of the total number of passengers recorded in 2022, 242,881,309 were commercial passengers, of which 82,319,704 travelled on domestic flights, 3.8% less than in 2019, and 160,561,605 travelled on international flights, 15% less.
Airport traffic in 2022
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport recorded the highest number of passengers in 2022 with 50,633,652, representing a decrease of 18% compared to 2019.
This was followed by Barcelona-El Prat Josep Tarradellas Airport, with 41,639,622 and a 21% decrease over 2019; Palma de Mallorca Airport, with 28,573,364 (-3.9%); Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport, with 18,457,194 (-7.1%), Alicante-Elche Airport, with 13,202,880 (-12.3%); Gran Canaria Airport, with 12,417,699 (-6.4%); Tenerife Sur Airport, with 10,821,703 (-3.1%); Ibiza Airport, with 8,156,675 (0%), and Valencia Airport, with 8,114,852, which is a 5% decrease compared to 2019.
As for the number of aircraft in operation, the airport that recorded the highest number in 2022 was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, with a total of 351,906 (-17.5%), followed by Barcelona-El Prat Josep Tarradellas Airport with 283,394 (-17.8%); Palma de Mallorca Airport, with 220,690 (+1.6%); Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport, with 144,107 (-0.6%); Gran Canaria Airport, with 119,530 (-5.5%); Alicante-Elche Airport, with 90,109 (-11.1%); Ibiza Airport, with 80,723 (+7.1%); Tenerife Sur Airport, with 75,605 (+7.6%), and Valencia Airport, with 73,498, representing a decrease of 5.4% over the data from 2019.
December 2022
With regard to December, Aena’s airport network recorded a total of 17,897,162 passengers, 1.9% less than in the same month of 2019, representing a recovery of 98.1%. Of these, 17,807,792 were commercial passengers, of which 6,703,776 corresponded to domestic flights, 3.9% more than in December 2019, and 11,104,016 passengers travelled on international routes, 5.3% less.
The number of aircraft operations in December 2022 was 158,442 at Aena’s network airports, 2.8% less than in the same month of 2019.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
