Barcelona airport saw an increase of 6.5% in passenger traffic last year

Barcelona (CNA) .- The number of passengers at El Prat Airport in Barcelona rose by 6.5% in 2010 in comparison to the previous year. According to AENA (the Spanish Airport Authority), 29.1 million people passed through El Prat airport in 2010, 17.5 million for international flights and 11.6 million for national. As for other airports in Catalonia, Girona Airport lost 8% of their passengers with 4.8 million passengers passing through. But worst hit was Reus Airport with a drop of 16.7% of passengers in comparison to the previous year. The rest of the passenger traffic rose by 2.7% on average in comparison to 2009. Although in December, the number of passengers increased by 7.9%, it fell by 40.4% in Girona Airport and 25.1% in Reus.

Barcelona Airport recorded an outstanding increase in growth last year beating all other commercial airports in the country by 6.5%, including Madrid-Barajas airport, which increased its activity by 2.9%. 49.7 million passengers passed through the Madrid airport. With regard to rankings, Italy was the top foreign destination last year in El Prat airport over-taking Germany while Portugal came 7^th. The strongest percentage increase for 2010 in incoming passengers were from the Russian Federation with a growth of 65.2%, Austria with 36.7% and Denmark with 32.8%.

In 2010, Qatar Airways and Air Canada started operating a new service to destinations like Toronto, Montreal and Doha. Passengers on intercontinental flights have grown by 13% over the previous year, with important growth in Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Avianca, U.S. Airways and Singapore Airlines. On top of this, in the last 5 years intercontinental destinations increased by 75%.