Spain’s Aena network closed 2023 with a new passenger record, surpassing 283 million travelers. The year beat the pre-pandemic high of over 275 million by 2.9% and showed a 10.6% rise in December compared with four years earlier, signaling a sustained rebound in air travel across the country.
In December alone, Aena airports served nearly 20.2 million passengers, a 12.8% increase from December of the prior year. For the full year 2023, the total rose by 16.2% over 2022, underscoring a strong recovery in demand and traffic across Spain’s airport network, according to the airport director.
Maurici Lucena, president and CEO of Aena, highlighted that these are record numbers for air transportation and emphasized its critical role in Spain’s economic and social development. He noted the resilience of the sector as carriers that endured the pandemic now welcome more passengers than ever before.
During 2023, Aena achieved several milestones: more than 2.4 million aircraft movements occurred, and 1,079,676 tons of goods were transported, marking an 8.5% increase from 2022 and a historic high in cargo activity for the network.
Approximately 282.4 million of last year’s passenger total were commercial travelers; among them, international passengers reached 189.7 million, up 18.2% from 2022, while domestic travel accounted for 92.7 million, a 12.6% rise.
Barajas is ahead
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas logged the most passengers in 2023 with 60.2 million. Of that total, international travel accounted for 43.8 million, an increase of 20.9%, and domestic travel reached 16.4 million, up 14%. Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat followed with 49.9 million passengers, a 19.9% rise.
Palma de Mallorca’s airport traffic stood out with 31.1 million passengers, up 8.9% from 2022, while Malaga-Costa del Sol recorded 22.3 million (21.1% higher). Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández moved to 15.7 million (19.2% higher), Gran Canaria approached 14 million (12.4% higher), Tenerife South saw 12.3 million travelers (14% higher), and Valencia reached roughly 10 million (22.6% higher).
In terms of overall aircraft activity, Barajas led with 389,179 movements in 2023, a 10.6% rise from 2022, followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat with 318,957 movements, up 12.5%. Palma de Mallorca registered 228,920 movements (3.7% higher), Malaga-Costa del Sol 161,684 (12.2% higher), Gran Canaria 129,552 (8.4% higher), and Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández 100,547 (11.6% higher).
On the freight front, Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas handled the largest volume with 643,535 tons, up 13.6% year over year and representing nearly 60% of total air cargo moved across the Aena network, the highest annual figure in the system’s history. Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat followed with 156,485 tons (0.6% higher), Zaragoza with 129,753 tons (2.2% higher), and Vitoria with 71,689 tons (2.6% lower).
December
December traffic remained robust, with almost 20.2 million passengers across the Aena network and about 20.13 million of them in the commercial category. Domestic travelers numbered around 7.2 million, up 7.5% from the prior December, while international travelers reached 12.9 million, up 16.4%.
Aircraft movements in December rose 11.3% year over year to 176,368, and freight traffic increased by 17.3% to 99,728 tons, signaling continued momentum in both passenger and cargo segments for the network.