83% fewer passengers at Barcelona airport in September

Barcelona's airport is still struggling due to the heavy impact of Covid-19, with the numbers of passengers continuing at rock bottom, as they have been for the past six months.

According to monthly data gathered by Aena, the body that manages Spain's main airports, the hub at El Prat de Llobregat, just outside Barcelona, welcomed 83.5% fewer passengers in September than 12 months previously.

The figures released on Tuesday show that 844,414 people took off from or landed at Barcelona during the ninth month of the year – in September 2019, 5.1 million passengers used it.

In the first nine months of 2019, over 40 million people had taken a flight to or from Barcelona – in the same period this year, this figure plummeted to 11,144,142, some 72% less.

The numbers are not as dramatic as the incredible 99% drop observed in spring – yet, the figures for the last month of the summer tourist season are further evidence that the sector, accounting for 12% of Catalonia's GDP, is suffering its worst year on record.

For instance, in the Costa Brava, one of the most famous vacation spots in the whole of southern Europe, a record 41% drop in hotel occupancy was declared in the summer.

In July, the number of tourists in the country were 81.6% less than July 2019, leading to significant job losses.