Spain received five million passengers from international airports in August, which represents an increase of 172% compared to the same month in 2020. The figure already represents almost half (48.6%) of the arrivals in a August record as was that of 2019, according to the data released today by Turespaña.
The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, has valued these data as “positive because they confirm that the trend of gradual recovery of international travelers started last March is consolidating. The advance in the vaccination of the population, together with the instruments put in place to reinforce the destination Spain as safe, such as the COVID-EU digital certificate, have allowed more than 5 million international air passengers to come to Spain. The decision of the British Government to relax its regulations for travel as of October 4 is a step in the right direction that will contribute to increasing mobility with our main source market. Spain is open to residents of the United Kingdom who have been vaccinated with a complete regimen or who travel with a negative PCR ”.
All the main emitting countries grow in August
The increase in international passengers has been registered in all the main issuing countries, with the United Kingdom for the first time in 2021 as the first market. Passenger arrivals from British airports have tripled with respect to the same month of 2020 (+ 212.6%) and have reached 821,853 people this August, who have gone mainly to the Balearic Islands.
Germany was the second issuing country of international passengers to Spain in August, with 803,558 passengers whose priority destination was the Balearic Islands; followed by France (540,679), Italy (491,698), Netherlands (369,269), Switzerland (221,369), Belgium (203,404), Portugal (136,907), Ireland (119,781), Poland (113,527) and Denmark (90,951). In all these countries, growth is above 75% compared to August 2020, with increases that exceed 400% in the case of Denmark and Ireland. Compared to August 2019, the Netherlands is the country with the highest degree of recovery, reaching 83% of the passengers issued two years ago this August; followed by Poland (80.9%) and France (73.5%).
Main Autonomous Communities of destination
The Balearic Islands have been the main Autonomous Community of destination, accumulating more than a quarter of international passenger arrivals (25.9% and 1.29 million travelers). It is followed by the Community of Madrid (18.4% and 923,738 passengers), Catalonia (18.3% and 915,387), Andalusia (12.3% and 615,809), the Canary Islands (11.5% and 574,345) and the Valencian Community (11 , 4% and 570.081). Catalonia and Madrid were the communities that registered the highest interannual growth (249.6% and 213.2%, respectively).
By airports, Palma de Mallorca was the one that received the highest volume of international passengers (18.5% of the total), followed by Adolfo Suárez Madrid Barajas (18.4%), Barcelona (17.1), Malaga (10, 4%), Alicante (7.3%), Ibiza (5.5%), Tenerife South (4.3%), Valencia (4.1%), Gran Canaria (2.7%) and Fuerteventura (2, 2%).
Of the total number of international passengers who traveled to Spain in August, the majority (60.1%) traveled with a low-cost company, while the remaining 39.9% opted for traditional airlines.