airport expansion

Vueling will launch 14 new routes from Barcelona El Prat Airport in the summer of 2014, reaching a total of 117 destinations from Catalonia’s main airport. Starting next summer, the Barcelona-based airline will favour German and Russian destinations. The company has also bought 7 new aircrafts, to make the total number of Vueling planes based in Barcelona El Prat reach 50. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, said these new routes coincided with the Catalan Government’s tourism strategy. Vueling currently holds 34% of the market share of the El Prat Airport and the company wishes to control 50% of this infrastructure’s air traffic within the next 5 years. With a total of 240 routes and 14 million passengers a year, Vueling is expected to become the leading airline in Europe for short- and medium-distance flights.

The Catalan capital’s airport is the world’s third largest centre for low-cost flights. Two thirds of the seats on offer from or to Barcelona El Prat Airport are managed by low-cost companies. All Europe’s main low-cost airlines fly to Barcelona. This confirms Barcelona’s tourist attractiveness. In addition, this type of air traffic has enabled the Catalan airport to become one of Europe’s main airports. For the first time, last August more passengers went through Barcelona El Prat than through Madrid-Barajas, which means El Prat was Spain’s main airport. This might be a key asset when low-cost airlines also operate transcontinental flights.

The Spanish Airport Authority (AENA), which owns and manages Barcelona El Prat Airport, has issued the tender to allocate the construction and management of a golf course located between the sea beach and the airfield’s third runway for 30 years. The golf course will be 175,000 square meters and have 9 holes. It will be for the passengers’ use, mostly those who are transferring through El Prat Airport. It should be operational by summer 2014, profiting from some of the infrastructure of a previously existing golf course. The project will come with restaurants and shops, as well as rooms for relaxing or holding meetings. Furthermore, in the future a beach club might also be built. The aim is to raise Barcelona Airport’s attractiveness as an international hub connecting short- and medium-distance flights with intercontinental ones.

The main Catalan airport is increasing the number of intercontinental flights in terms of both destination and frequency, one of the strategic drives implementing its expansion plan. Barcelona’s Airport already has 31% of the intercontinental traffic in Spain, despite the fact that the partially state-owned Iberia’s international flights abandoned the Catalan airport years ago in favour of Madrid Barajas. Barcelona Airport has attracted other airlines, such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, and has specialised in connections to the Middle East and Asia, although it also has flights to the Americas. Last week, there was a press release that stated that 35.15 million passengers went through Barcelona Airport in 2012.

The number of passengers going through Barcelona’s Airport between January and October grew by 4%, compared to the same period last year. In just 10 months, the airport of the Catalan capital had more passengers than in the entire of 2010. The number of international passengers increased by 6.2% and those coming from the Middle East, non-Schengen Europe and Argentina grew by 25%. In fact, Barcelona El Prat’s expansion strategy is focused on international flights, especially increasing the number of intercontinental flights and their destinations. However, the number of domestic flight passengers dropped by 11.1%.

Spanair, Singapore Airlines and Iberia have launched new direct connections with São Paulo, Miami and European destinations from Barcelona’s Airport. Gradually, Barcelona El Prat is putting together the pieces to become a continental hub in its own right.

Goods transportation is increasing at Barcelona Airport since it experienced a drop in 2009 due to the global economic crisis. Two companies have already announced that they will establish their services in the area. Barcelona Airport transported 104,280 tonnes of goods in 2010.

Barcelona-El Prat Airport had 29.1 million passengers, which means that Barcelona’s is Europe’s 9th airport. Girona airport saw a decrease of 8% in passenger traffic and Reus airport one of 16.7%.

The German airline has announced today the opening of 2 new direct routes from Barcelona’s airport. In addition, Air Berlin has confirmed his aspirations to operate from the new main terminal T1. The airline’s passengers going through Barcelona has grown 14% in the last year.

Ryanair begins operating 197 flights per week in 23 destinations from Barcelona-El Prat from today on. The company is decreasing its flights from the Girona and Reus airports but, in global terms, the number of Ryanair flights to and from Catalonia is rising from 326 to 412 flights per week.