In October, passengers arriving in Spain from international airports totalled almost 9.8 million, an increase of +8.5% compared to the same month in 2023.

Of these, according to data released by Turespaña, 62.2% chose low-cost airlines (LCC) to travel, an increase of 9.3%, while those who traveled on traditional airlines accounted for the remaining 37.8%. , corresponding to an increase of 7.2% compared to October 2023.

The data reveals that 57.4% of total passengers originated in the European Union, with an increase of 8%, while the flow coming from the rest of the world, which represented the remaining 42.6%, registered an increase of 9.1%. %.

In terms of market diversification, the good performance of most Latin American countries, Canada, China and the United Arab Emirates stands out.

The United Kingdom, with 2.1 million international passengers, generated 21.9% of the total arrivals flow in Spain in October, registering an annual increase of 6.3%, which had an impact on all the main Autonomous Communities. The Canary Islands were the biggest beneficiaries with more than 42,000 additional passengers this month. The Balearic Islands and Valencia were also major beneficiaries, but to a lesser extent, with more than 25,000 additional arrivals of British origin. 82.1% of British passengers flew low cost, with the UK being the leader in arrivals on these airlines, representing 28.9% of the total and reflecting an annual increase of 6.1%. The increase in traditional airlines was slightly higher, at +7.1%.

From Germany, 1.5 million passengers flew to Spain (15.2% of the total), with an annual increase of 9.8%. The main destinations were the Balearic Islands (42.7%), with an increase of 13.1%. All other regions, except “Green Spain” (Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia), showed positive developments, with the most moderate increase in the Community of Madrid, of +3.3%, and the most intense in Andalusia, of +16.8%.

46.8% of German passengers traveled on traditional airlines, being the leading market in terms of arrivals on these companies, with a share of 18.8% of the total, and an increase of 8.1% this month. The remaining 53.2% traveled low cost and registered an annual growth of 11.3%.

United States of America (USA) and Poland were the countries that grew the most in the number of passengers at Spanish airports. While 228 thousand passengers arrived from the USA (+14.1%), 220 thousand arrived from Poland, an increase of 30.7% compared to the 10th month of 2023.

The six main Autonomous Communities represented 97% of total arrivals, with all recording increases. Andalusia recorded the largest annual increase at 11.4%, with Madrid recording the most moderate single-digit increase (+7.5%).

This month, Madrid was the city that received the most international passengers, with around 2.1 million (21.5% of the total) and, in addition, among traditional airlines, it led the share of arrivals, with 44.1% of the total. Among the low cost, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands recorded the highest number of passenger arrivals, with more than one million.

Low cost

In the year to date – January to October – Spain received 91.5 million international passengers, corresponding to an increase of 11.3% compared to the same period in 2023. This value represents an increase of 9.3 million international arrivals, with low cost ones responsible for 6.1 million of this increase.

Furthermore, low cost companies accounted for nearly 56 million passengers transported to Spain (+12.3%), while traditional companies transported the remaining 35.5 million passengers (+9.9%).

In these 10 months of 2024, the United Kingdom recorded more than 20 million passengers (+7.8%), representing 22.2% of all passengers arriving in Spain, followed by Germany with 12.8 million (+10% ) and Italy with 8.8 million (+14.8%).

Portugal appears with a growth of 3.2% in relation to the 10 months of 2023, totaling 3.1 million passengers.

Here too, the biggest growths were recorded by the USA (2.3 million, +17.1%) and Poland (2.2 million, +49.2%).

With regard to the airports with the highest traffic, the highlight is Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas with 20.5 million passengers in these 10 months of 2024 (+11.4%), followed by Barcelona with 17.4 million (+13, 4%) and Palma de Mallorca with 11.7 million (+7.7%)