Aena, the operator of many of the airports in Spain, has revised its forecasts for passenger traffic, anticipating a significant increase in the coming years.
Last year, Aena’s Spanish airports served 283 million passengers, a number expected to grow to 294 million in 2024, surpassing 300 million in 2025, and reaching 310 million by 2026.
With nearly 50 airports in Spain under its management and a controlling stake in London Luton airport, along with a portfolio of over 30 airports in Latin America, Aena anticipates handling over one million passengers per day globally by 2026.
The company attributes its updated forecasts to the positive performance of the economy, which has exceeded expectations, as well as a faster-than-anticipated recovery in passenger traffic in 2022. This growth has been particularly noticeable at tourist-oriented airports.
Aena highlighted recent developments such as the approval for London Luton airport to increase its annual traffic capacity from 18 to 19 million passengers and its acquisition of the Block of Eleven Airports of Brazil (BOAB), including Sao Paulo Congonhas Airport.
Meanwhile, Madrid Barajas Airport has unveiled plans to invest €2.4 billion in its existing terminals, aiming to boost annual capacity to 90 million passengers by 2031.
The latest traffic report from ACI EUROPE for January 2024 shows that international passenger volumes across European airports have returned to 2019 levels for the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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