Source: Aena
Aena network airports ended the first quarter of the year with 53,645,869 passengers, 41.6% more than the same period last year and 1.6% more than the first three months of 2019.
Between January and March, 491,344 aircraft movements were recorded (0.1% more than in 2019) and 251,593 tonnes of freight were transported, 0.5% more than in the same period of 2019.
In the month of March 2023, they reached 20,093,589 passengers, surpassing by 0.6% the data for the same month of 2019, the year prior to the pandemic. This also represents an increase of 28.9% compared to March 2022.
Last month, 180,627 aircraft flights were handled, beating figures from 2019 by 1.9% and figures from 2022 by 18.2%; and 96,566 tonnes of freight were moved, 2.2% more than in the same month of 2019 and 4.6% more than in March 2022.
Of the total number of passengers registered in March, 20,000,442 were commercial passengers. A total of 12,855,880 of these commercial passengers travelled on international flights, 1.6% less than in March 2019 and 30.6% more than in 2022, while 7,144,562 travelled on domestic flights, 4.4% more than prior to the pandemic and 25.8% more than last year.
Passengers
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport recorded the highest number of passengers in the third month of the year with 4,821,856, down by 1.7% compared to March 2019, as well as an increase of 35.5% compared to March last year.
It is followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 3,762,656 (-5.2% compared to 2019 and +39.3% compared to 2022); Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 1,475,066 (+9% and +25.1%); Palma de Mallorca, with 1,344,375 (+3.3% and +22.4%); Gran Canaria, with 1,290,562 (-1% and +22.1%); Tenerife Sur, with 1,158,755 (+4.6% and +16.4%); and Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 1,045,004 passengers, up by 4.9% versus the same month of 2019 and 25.8% more passengers than those recorded in March 2022.
Operations
In terms of the number of operations, the airport that recorded the highest number of movements in March was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with a total of 31,320 (-8.6% compared to 2019 and +17.2% compared to 2022), followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 24,176 flights (-6.9% and +21.3%); Palma de Mallorca, 11,752 (+12.6% and +10.1%); Gran Canaria, with 11,672 (-1.7% and +13.7%); Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 10,908 and 11.4% more than in the same month of 2019 and an increase of 12.7% compared to March 2022.
Freight
With regard to freight traffic, the airport that recorded the highest cargo traffic was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with 57,011 tonnes, 16.9% more than in the same month of 2019 and an increase of 9.7% over 2022. It is followed by the airports Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 13,516 tonnes (-14.5% compared to 2019 and -0.2% compared to 2022); Zaragoza, which recorded 12,036 tonnes (-30.5% and -9.8%) and Vitoria, with 6,770 tonnes and 25% more than in the same month of 2019 and 0.5% more than in March 2022.