Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport.
December ended with 69.7% of the passengers from the same month in 2019, before the pandemic, with over 12,720,000 passengers.
The airports in the Aena network closed out 2021 with 119,959,671 passengers, which is 56.4% less passenger traffic than for the same period in 2019, or equivalent to 43.6% of the pre-pandemic volume. With respect to 2020, a year that was already affected by the COVID-19 crisis, 2021 closed out with an increase in passenger traffic of 57.7%. Throughout the year, the number of aircraft movements was 1,518,713, 35.7% lower than in 2019.
Of the total number of passengers registered in 2021, 119,396,351 travelled commercially, 52,043,865 on domestic flights, 39.2% less than in 2019, and 67,352,486 did so on international routes, 64.3% less.
Traffic by airport
The Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport reported the largest number of passengers in the network in 2021, with 24,135,220, a drop of 60.9% compared to 2019 and an increase of 41% compared to 2020.
It was followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport, with 18,874,896 (a 64.2% decrease from 2019 and a 48.2% increase over 2020); Palma de Mallorca, with 14,496,857 (-51.2% from 2019 and +137.3% over 2020); Malaga-Costa del Sol, with 8,874,765 (-55.3% and +72%), Gran Canaria, with 6,900,493 (-48% and +34.4%); Alicante-Elche, with 5,841,181 (-61.2% and +56.2%); Ibiza, with 4,851,819 (-40.5% and +129.9%); Tenerife Sur, with 4,605,827 (-58.8% and +35.8%); and Valencia, with 4,077,836 (-52.2% and +63.9%).
As for the number of operations, the airport with the most aircraft movements in 2021 was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with a total of 217,537 (-49%); followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 163,679 (-52.5%); Palma de Mallorca, with 141,189 (-35%); Malaga-Costa del Sol, with 92,227 (-36.4%); Gran Canaria, with 83,981 (-33.6%); Ibiza, with 61,612 (-18.3%);
Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna, with 54,580 (-27.6%); and Alicante- Elche, with 51,505 (-49.2%).
Elsewhere, the airports that saw mainly non-commercial activity and accounted for the largest number of movements in 2021 were Madrid-Cuatro Vientos, with 60,759 operations (17%); Sabadell, with 51,665 (2%); and Jerez, with 41,260 (-24.3%).
December 2021
As for December, Aena's airport network handled a total of 12,721,263 passengers, 30.3% less than in the same month of 2019, equivalent to recovering 69.7% of the pre-pandemic figures, and 233.2% more than in 2020. Of these passengers; 12,664,914 were on commercial flights, of whom 5,278,732 travelled domestically, 18.2% less than in 2019, and 7,386,182, 37% less, did so internationally.
The number of aircraft operations at Aena airports in December 2021 was 141,931, 12.9% less than in the same month of 2019. A total of 95,333 tonnes of goods were transported, 0.3% less than in December 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.
