Two airports serving popular Spanish holiday destinations have seen a rise in passenger numbers, with officials warning they cannot cope with ever-increasing visitor numbers – which could impact flight operations. Both Valencia Manises and Alicante-Elche witnessed their busiest April on record, with visitor numbers in Spain overall 14 percent higher than the same month last year.
In April, Valencia Airport received 945,513 passengers, an increase of 9.5 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest data from Aena, the airport management company. This year, 3.07 million passengers have already passed through the very popular Spanish destination.
If these numbers continue into the summer season, the 10.5 million unit capacity is expected to be exceeded and become unsustainable, the Express reports. Alicante-Elche – which serves the popular resorts of Alicante and Benidorm – is in a similar situation, also recording the fourth record month of the year, with 1,590,828 passengers passing through its doors in April. This was 10.8 percent more than April 2023.
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According to local reports, there have been long queues for taxes on arrival at Alicante-Elche airport in recent weeks, with passengers reportedly waiting for hours. Two weeks ago there were reportedly 200 people waiting for a taxi and the Ministry of Transport was expected to hold a meeting to find a solution.
After the pandemic, the numbers of tourists in Spain have continuously increased. Popular Spanish destinations in addition to Valencia and Alicante include Barcelona and Madrid, and the islands of Mallorca, Ibiza, Tenerife and Lanzarote, with many of the islands facing protests over overcrowding.
Experts warn that this could soon lead to a collapse if there is no expansion to Valencia Manises. Currently, Aena’s plan is to start an expansion project at the end of this year or early 2025. However, this will not be completed until 2027.
“Valencia airport needs to be expanded because it is on the verge of collapse,” agreed Nuria Montes, Valencia’s councilor for tourism, in a recent interview. She believes an upgrade would allow a total of 15 million passengers per year by 2030.
The latest report from the Council of Chambers emphasized that an improvement “would allow us to exceed 21 million passengers in 2030 in an optimistic scenario.” It also added that if things continue at this rate, losses would rise to more than £794 million, as well as the loss of 17,500 new jobs per year.
Meanwhile, Carlos Mazón, the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, and Carlos Baño, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Alicante, have issued an urgent warning regarding the Alicante-Elche airport, stating that it is also on the verge of collapse and that if nothing is done, the entire airport province risks being paralyzed.
According to a recent report, traffic forecasts for 2026 were already exceeded in 2023, putting the airport at a breaking point. With forecasts predicting this will continue and reach two million passengers annually, the current infrastructure will not be able to meet growing demand.
Baño has warned that if action is not taken immediately it could cause an economic disaster for the province – with losses of more than £681 million a year. He also highlighted the threat to jobs, with up to 14,800 jobs at risk if a second runway is not built between 2024 and 2030.
With tourism being one of the main drivers of the economy in Alicante, the airport problems could also lead to serious financial consequences for businesses and families across the area. As a result, the president of Aena, Maurici Lucena, stated that they will start the expansion of the Alicante-Elche airport by the end of this year, in a meeting with the Ministers of Infrastructure.
However, Lucena said the renovations would focus on increasing the size of the current terminal, rather than building a second runway, the latter of which many are demanding. After an analysis and technical study, “investment priorities should be the expansion of the current terminal to increase capacity in light of future demand due to the increase in the number of activities and passengers,” he said.
However, the Chamber of Commerce of Alicante considers this insufficient and predicts that the airport will reach 20 million users by 2026 and will urgently need a second runway. Nuria Montes agreed that “a second runway for Alicante-Elche airport is their main demand”.
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