ENAIRE recovered 81.2% of flights in November compared to 2019 levels

The recovery of air traffic in Spain exceeds the European average

• Domestic flights fared the best, with a recovery of 83.6%
• ENAIRE managed more than a million flights in the first eleven months of the year
• If the flights are compared to those of November 2020, the number is 155.9% higher
  
  
  

Month by month, the trend continues as air traffic recovers to pre-pandemic levels. ENAIRE managed over 120,000 flights in November (120,204), which is just 18.8% below the average for the entire network for the same month in
2019, the baseline year for data comparisons, since traffic in 2020 fell to very low levels as a result of COVID-19.

This figure means that ENAIRE, the national air navigation service provider, recovered 81.2% of flights in November compared to 2019 levels (in October, this figure was 77.5%, meaning the figure for November was 3.7 percentage
points higher).

This recovery in the number of flights in Spain is higher than that recorded anywhere in Europe, which saw a decrease in November of 22.8% with respect to November 2019.

A comparison between the flights managed by ENAIRE in November 2021 and those in the same period in 2020 shows an increase of 155.9%.

Domestic flights (28,166) exhibited the best trend, with a drop of 16.4% compared to the same month in 2019, equivalent to recovering 83.6% of the flights compared to the same month in that year. International flights (65,349) went down by 19.2% compared to two years ago, and overflights (those that do not depart from or land at a Spanish airport) fell by 20.0% to 26,689.

All ENAIRE control centres saw smaller drops in traffic in November compared to previous months. Compared to the same month in 2019, Palma was down 5.8%; Seville, 7.1%; Canary Islands, 9.3%; Madrid, 18.3%; and Barcelona, 21.8%.

Traffic comparison November 2021-2019

TOTAL % International % Domestic % Overflights %

ENAIRE network
120,204 -18.8% 65,349 -19.2% 28,166 -16.4% 26,689 -20.0%

Madrid CC
72,775 -18.3% 39,145 -16.8% 12,747 -21.6% 20,883 -18.9%

Barcelona CC
47,537 -21.8% 29,325 -24.6% 11,853 -14.0% 6,359 -21.9%

Canary Islands CC
27,350 -9.3% 15,052 -0.3% 9,938 -16.7% 2,360 -24.7%

Seville CC
28,881 -7.1% 13,593 -3.6% 8,399 -9.2% 6,889 -11.1%

Palma CC
12,122 -5.8% 5,471 -8.6% 6,622 -3.3% 29 -21.6%

Note. The total number of flights operated by ENAIRE’s network does not necessarily match the total number of flights managed by each Control Centre (CC). This is due to the fact that a flight is registered according to the airspace and route it crosses.

For example: a flight departing from Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport bound for Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat will be registered at the Control Centres in Madrid and Barcelona.

Data from January to November

In the first eleven months, ENAIRE managed over one million flights (1,068,801), 46.6% fewer than in the same period in 2019, of which 559,305 were international (-52.1%), 285,438 domestic (-28.8%) and 224,058 overflights (-48.0%).

A comparison of the flights managed by ENAIRE between January and November 2021 with those in the same period in 2020 shows an increase of 34.3%.

Cumulative air traffic comparison January-November 2021/2019

TOTAL % International % Domestic % Overflights %

ENAIRE network
1,068,801 -46.6% 559,305 -52.1% 285,438 -28.8% 224,058 -48.0%

Madrid CC
558,806 -49.1% 258,757 -54.7% 122,070 -35.7% 177,979 -47.2%

Barcelona CC
493,661 -46.6% 320,476 -51.1% 121,694 -28.1% 51,491 -48.2%

Canary Islands CC
189,955 -41.8% 71,254 -53.4% 101,513 -26.1% 17,188 -52.2%

Seville CC
249,067 -36.8% 105,290 -45.2% 82,345 -22.3% 61,432 -36.1%

Palma CC
213,809 -32.8% 136,401 -37.5% 77,032 -22.6% 376 -28.0%

Recovery plan completed

During the summer season, ENAIRE applied a Recovery Plan for Air Navigation Services based on the forecasts it was receiving from the European Network Manager. With this Plan, which ended on 30 September, ENAIRE worked in close cooperation with EUROCONTROL to standardise operational criteria in preparation for returning to pre-pandemic flight levels while ensuring the quality of the services provided.

The Plan allowed air traffic control operations to be recovered in stages, based on the expected demand and scheduling criteria, and the efficient use of the available resources.

ENAIRE lowers its charges to help the sector

ENAIRE has again drastically reduced its air navigation charges in 2021 to speed the recovery of the aviation sector.
Of the 38 countries in EUROCONTROL, Spain, through ENAIRE, is the one that is lowering its route charges the most in 2021, around 8% below the average charge.

ENAIRE reduced its continental route charge in 2020 (-16.7%) and 2021 (-11%) by 26%, and in the Canary Islands (-12.5% /-8.5%, respectively) by 20%, thus helping the aviation sector to recover from the crisis brought about by the
pandemic.

Moreover, until 2024, air navigation charges will remain below 2019 levels, a year in which ENAIRE was already operating with the lowest charges in the last ten years, and which were among the most competitive in Europe. As a
result, the continental charges in 2022 will be 19.4% lower than in 2019, and in the Canary Islands they will be lowered by 14.4%.

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