Spain starts 2024 with a 12.7% increase in international air passengers compared to January last year

In January, our country received 5.9 million international air passengers, 12.7% more than in the same month of 2023, according to data published by Turespaña. A total of 57.3% of the almost 6 million air passengers came from the EU, an increase of 13.1%, while the flow from the rest of the world, which accounted for the remaining 42.7%, grew by 12.3%.

The Minister for Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, has highlighted "the importance of Spain's strong rise as a favourite destination for the global tourism market". In Hereu's opinion, "the fact that we continue to grow in terms of tourists is good, but it is even better to continue to make progress in the challenge of diversifying and improving the quality of tourism, and today's figures confirm this good trend, a reflection of the policies promoted by the government".

January begins with a strong upward trend as passengers departing to Spain from all major sending countries increased compared to the same month in 2023, except Portugal. Poland (77%), Ireland (19.2%), Italy (18.2%) and the US (17.5%) all recorded significant growth in January. The diversification of markets in the rest of the world reached a weight of close to 30% and an increase of 13.7% compared to a year ago.

The UK, with 1.1 million international passengers, generated 17.9% of the total flow of arrivals to Spain in January, recording a year-on-year increase of 11.1%. The Canary Islands was the largest recipient of arrivals, accounting for 42.7% of the total number of passengers from the UK. Some 81.6% of British passengers travelled on a low-cost carrier (LCC), with the UK the leader in arrivals on these airlines, accounting for 25.2% of the total.

Passenger arrivals from Germany stood at 687,829 in January (11.6% of the total), an increase of 11% compared to January 2023. German travellers mainly went to the Canary Islands (40.5% of passengers). Notably, slightly less than half of German passengers (49.8% of the total) travelled on traditional airlines, with Germany the leading market in terms of arrivals on these airlines (13.7% of the total).

Italy accounted for 10.7% of the flow of passengers welcomed in January (632,563 passengers), recording a year-on-year growth of 18.2%, which particularly benefited Catalonia and the Madrid Region. The Basque Country and the Valencia Region recorded notable year-on-year growth of more than 30%. Among Italian travellers, 78.9% are predominantly low-cost airlines, an increase of 21.4% compared to a year ago.

France, for its part, issued 7.3% of the total number of passengers in January, showing an expansion of 1.6%, which particularly favoured Madrid and Catalonia, which received more than 100,000 arrivals respectively and together accounted for 62.5% of total arrivals. A total of 63.1% of French passengers used CBC on their flights, a year-on-year growth of 1.5%.

Last, the Netherlands accounted for 4.8% of the total number of travellers. This market experienced a growth of 11.7% in January and its main destinations were Catalonia and the Valencian Community, together accounting for 42% of arrivals. The vast majority of travellers from the Netherlands also chose low-cost airlines for their flights.

Autonomous communities of destination

The six main communities accounted for a 97.8% share of arrivals, recording notable increases in the first month of the year. The largest year-on-year increases - 21.3% and 18.5% - were in Andalusia and Valencia, respectively.

Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport received the most arrivals in January, with 1.7 million, followed by Barcelona, with 1.2 million, and Tenerife, with 540,000. The highest year-on-year increase was at Malaga airport, with a 22.6% increase, followed by Alicante, with a 21.2% increase.

Non official translation