cargo

The number of passengers whom passed through Barcelona El Prat Airport this January grew by 11.4% in comparison to the same month last year. According to the Spanish Airport Authority (AENA) 2,804,092 passengers used Barcelona El Prat Airport's facilities in the first month of 2017 and there were 20,848 operations registered. The number of flights to and from Latin America and the Caribbean grew the most, by 35.8%, followed by those to and from the Middle East (16.9%), Africa, which grew by 10.4% in comparison to January 2016, and North America (9.3%). Cargo transportation also grew in January, increasing by 11.4% in comparison to the first month of 2016 and totalled 10,330 tonnes. In terms of cargo, routes from within the Spanish state saw the biggest growth, 40.5%, while international cargo registered a 10.2% increase in comparison to January 2016.

The number of passengers whom passed through Barcelona El Prat Airport in 2016 grew by 11.2% in comparison to the previous year and set a record 44.1 million passengers. According to the Spanish Airport Authority (AENA) there were 307,864 operations registered in 2016, 6.6% more than in 2015 and both national (+11.4%) and international flights (+11.2%) grew in comparison to 2015. Cargo transportations also grew in 2016, increasing by 13.3% and totalling 135,754 tonnes. The busiest month was August, when 4.7 million passengers passed through El Prat Airport while February registered the highest growth; 2.7 million passengers used El Prat airport facilities that month, representing a 20.4% increase in comparison to the same month in 2015.

39.7 million passengers used Barcelona’s El Prat Airport facilities this 2015, 5.7% more than last year. This figure sets a new record for El Prat, which is the second busiest airport in Spain, only beaten by Madrid Barajas. December was also a historic month, with 2,604,772 passengers whom passed through El Prat. The highest figure was registered in August 2015, were nearly 4.4 million passengers used El Prat Airport’s facilities. The passenger group which grew the most was international travellers, especially the Latin American market, which registered a 21.7% increase in comparison to last year. Regarding the number of operations registered, there were 288.878 take-offs and landings in 2015, which represents 1.8% more than in 2014. 

3,621,777 passengers used Barcelona El Prat Airport's facilities this October, 7.5% more than in the same month last year. This figure sets a new record for El Prat, which is the second busiest airport in Spain, only beaten by Madrid Barajas. Most of the users whom passed through El Prat were international passengers, which registered a 9.1% increase compared to October 2014, while the number of national passengers rose to 3.3%. Regarding the number of operations, there were 25,349 flights in October, which represents 1% more than in the same month last year, and from January to October 248,358 operations were registered in El Prat. The number of flights to/from Latin America grew the most, by 47.5%, followed by those to/from North America (up 21%) and the Middle East (up 18.8%). Cargo transportation also grew, increasing by 15.3% and totalling 11,070 tons. In terms of cargo, routes from outside the EU saw the biggest growth, 30.6%. 

LATAM Airlines Group will operate from El Prat Airport starting in October with a new route running between Barcelona and Sao Paulo through the TAM airline. Three weekly direct flights will be offered, in hopes of reaching 60,000 passengers a year. According to LATAM Airlines CEO, Rodrigo Contreras, the company chose Barcelona because they consider it "a strategic market in Europe," both for the growth of Catalan tourism in Brazil as well as for the Catalan capital as a tourist destination. In this sense, Contreras said Barcelona is the top Spanish destination chosen by Brazilian travellers and the fifth most popular in Europe for business trips and events. The addition of this flight is a continuation of an upward trend for El Prat, which recorded a 4.8% increase in passengers from January through June compared to the same period in 2014, including a 2.7% rise for the month of June.

This January, Grimaldi, the multinational logistics group specialised in maritime transport for major vehicle manufacturers’ world suppliers, has launched a new ferry called the “Florencia” to connect the Catalan capital and Savona, an Italian port located about 50km west of Genoa. This investment allows the company to double the frequency between the two harbours. The brand new “Florencia” is 186m long and can carry 1,000 passengers and 170 cars. It makes three trips per week: at midnight every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, reaching its destination the next day at 6pm.

63% more exports have been channelled through the Port of Barcelona during the first six months of 2014 than in the same period of 2008, prior to the economic crisis. On Friday, the President of Barcelona Port Authority, Sixte Cambra, announced that 2014 will be the year of record sums of exports and imports from the Catalan port. The Port finished the first half of 2014 with 22.5 million tons of goods transported, representing an increase of 7% compared with the same period of 2013. Cambra said that growth occurred in all cargo sections of the port, driven by foreign trade, especially exports.

The President of the Port of Barcelona, ??Sixte Cambra, said on Wednesday that the total container traffic had reached around one million TEUs for the full year (the reference unit for cargo ships, equivalent to 20 feet containers). “This is the record number of the best pre-crisis times, which happened in 2007” stated Cambra during an informational breakfast in Madrid. The President of the Port of Barcelona also underlined the change in trends since in 2007, in spite of the record number of containers, “more than 60% were imports; in 2013 over 60% were exported containers.”

The Italian ferry company has built a 63,000 square metre terminal at the Costa dock, with an investment of €20 million and a capacity of 3,600 passengers per day. The new terminal will allow the city of Barcelona to gain a new urban area, since the space accessing and surrounding the terminal will be integrated into the city for the first time. Urban planning work will be concluded by the end of the year, announced the Mayor of Barcelona, Xavier Trias. The terminal has restaurants, bars, shops and free Wi-fi, and will allow the boarding of passengers and goods.

Tradebe’s new terminal for petrochemical products has 29 tanks for storing bulk liquids, with a total capacity of 450,000 cubic metres. The new facility represented a €65 million investment, occupying 60,000 square metres and creating 27 direct jobs. Tradebe is one of the leading companies in industrial waste management in Spain, with a significant presence in the United States and the United Kingdom as well as having subsidiary companies in France and Turkey. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, and the Spanish Minister for Public Works, Ana Pastor, participated in the unveiling ceremony. Mas asked Pastor to prioritise “productive” investments, such as Barcelona Port’s railway connections.

The Port of Barcelona registered a record in the number of containers destined to international exports. China has consolidated its position as the main destination of containers departing from Barcelona. In addition, the number of cruisers boomed by 17% in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period last year.

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.