Barcelona airport closes 2017 with historic total of 47 million passengers

Bareclona EL Prat airport closed 2017 with a historic new record of 47.2 million passengers flying to and from the facility, an increase of 7.1% from 2016 when 44.1 million people used the airport, already a record in itself.

Traffic on domestic flights increased by 7.7% reaching a total of 12.7 million registered passengers, while people flying internationally increased by 6.8% to 34.5 million. The airport also dealt with over 156,000 tonnes of goods, a rise of around 15% compared to last year.

In December 2017, a total of nearly 3.2 million people used the facility, 6.4% more than 2016. Coinciding with the Christmas holidays, passengers flying within Spain increased the most, by 10.%, while 4.5% more people flew internationally.

This is despite the airport staff strike that took place in peak tourist season in August, which saw hundreds of passengers queuing for hours before being able to pass through security.

Big year for tourism

Indeed, a total of 19 million tourists visited Catalonia itself in 2017, an increase of 5.5% compared to 2016, despite a 20% decrease in the last quarter of the year put down to the terrorist attacks and political tensions between the Catalan and Spanish governments.

The number of passengers using Barcelona airport has been steadily increasing since 2009, when 27.3 million people used the facility. 

This increase in passenger traffic last year coincided with, aside from the strikes, a series of good news for the airport. Indeed, new routes were opened by the low cost airlines Norwegian, and the creation of Level, another low budget flyer, saw an increase of air traffic carrying more people.