Source: Aena

  • The number of passengers in 2021 increased by 57.7% compared to 2020
  • 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; and 998,471 tonnes of cargo were transported, 6.6% less 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%).

In 2021, 998,471 tonnes of cargo were transported throughout the Aena network, 6.6% less than in 2019, since a significant amount of the usual cargo was carried on commercial passenger aircraft.

The four airports that registered the highest cargo traffic last year were Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with a total of 523,396 tonnes (-6.5%); Zaragoza, 194,352 tonnes (6.4%); Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, 136,107 tonnes (-23%); and Vitoria, with 72,522 tonnes (12.5%).

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.

In light of the fact that the state of the alarm declared in Spain in 2020 lasted until 21 July, with the ensuing home lockdown and the prohibition on all non-essential travel, and that the pandemic entailed restrictions on mobility around the world, the comparison with the 2020 data has been eliminated, as this year is considered an outlier. (For example, compared to 2020, the figures show an increase of 57.7% in passenger traffic, 37.9% in operations and 26.5% in cargo).