Italy leads in foreign passenger traffic at Barcelona Airport

Italy is the leading foreign country in passenger traffic at Barcelona's El Prat Airport. With a 9.5% increase in passengers, 5.3 million traveled to the Catalan capital in 2023, securing Italy's position as the top country for the third year in a row.

The United Kingdom, which was the main origin and destination of foreign flights passing through El Prat for a decade until Brexit, experienced a notable setback, with a 14% decrease compared to 2019. 

El Prat airport saw around 20 million tourists in 2023, a 17% decrease compared to the numbers recorded in 2019, before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Aena data.

Several EU countries, including France (-12%), Belgium (-19.9%), Finland (-40%) and Croatia (-28%) recorded significant declines in passenger numbers. On the positive side, Portugal and the Netherlands both recorded an increase of 11%.

Catiana Tur, director of the Association of Specialized Travel Agencies (ACAVE), explained that Italy's success is due to cultural proximity and economic ties, as well as good connections to Italian airports. 

While Brexit has undoubtedly had an impact on the decline in British travelers, industry experts suggest that the UK's struggle to regain its position may also be due to the Covid-19 pandemic and increased competition from other destinations.

Domestic flights: Madrid loses passengers

Of the nearly 50 million people who used El Prat in 2023, 13.6 million were domestic passengers, with Spanish airline Vueling leading the way with 40% of all travelers. 

The slight decline in domestic traffic is related to the 600,000 fewer passengers using the Barcelona-Madrid air shuttle (Pont Aeri), which coincided with the liberalization of high-speed rail.

In 2019, Madrid was the main connection to Barcelona, but the following year Palma de Mallorca airport took the lead. In 2023, Madrid is still in second place, followed by Ibiza, Seville, Malaga and Menorca.