ENAIRE recovered 92.2% of flights in 2022 compared to the record levels of 2019

SPAIN – Air traffic rose in December

• Domestic flights fared the best, with a recovery of 95.9%

• The traffic recovery exceeds the European average by almost 9 points

• In 2022, ENAIRE managed nearly 2 million flights

• The control centres of Seville and the Canary Islands saw higher flight numbers in the past year

• International flights in the Canary Islands increased by 0.3%

• Air traffic grew 66.6% compared to 2021

The trend in air traffic puts the number of flights managed by ENAIRE throughout Spain in the past year at practically the same level as before the pandemic. In 2022, ENAIRE managed close to two million flights (1,980,990), 7.8% fewer than in 2019, a record year. This means a recovery of 92.2% of the pre-COVID traffic.

Moreover, the recovery of air traffic in Spain exceeds the European average by almost 9 points (8.9%).

Domestic flights (416,632) evolved the best in 2022, recovering to 95.9% with respect to 2019 (-4.1%). In ternational flights (1,124,987) recovered to 90% (-10%), and overflights (those that do not depart from or land at a Spanish airport) to 94.4% (-5.6%).

In 2022, the most notable increases were reported by Seville, with 438,236 flights managed, 2.8% more, and Palma, with 339,988, 2.7% more.

The ENAIRE Control Centre in Madrid managed more than one million flights last year, 1,085,719 (-8.6%) and Barcelona, 925,845 (-6%). The Canary Islands, with 351,452 flights managed (-1.7%), saw more international traffic (+0.3%).

A comparison of the flights managed by ENAIRE from January to December with those for the same period in 2021 shows an increase of 66.6%.

Cumulative traffic comparison 2022/2019

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.

Seville, the Canary Islands and Madrid grow in December

Traffic rose again in the final month of the year. The total air traffic was around 150,000 flights (149,240), an increase of 0.3%. Of them, 78,725 (-3.0%) were international, 33,237 were domestic (-0.6%) and 37,278 were overflights (+8.7%).

The best figures were reported by Seville, with 36,064 flights (+12.1%), the Canary Islands, with 34,520 (+9.6%) and Madrid, with 90,404 (+1.3%).

Overflights in Barcelona, with 60,431 flights (-1.3%), increased by 23.8%. Palma, with 12,567 flights (-0.4%), saw an increase in domestic traffic by 5.5%.

A comparison between the flights managed by ENAIRE in December 2022 and those in the same period in 2021 reveals an increase of 24.2%.

Traffic comparison December 2022-2019

World leader in safety

ENAIRE’s priority when managing these flights is safety. Safety, efficiency and sustainability characterise ENAIRE’s management.

ENAIRE and CRIDA, its research, development and innovation subsidiary, received the 2021 CANSO Global Air Safety Award at the 2022 World ATM Congress.

This award acknowledges the work done by ENAIRE and CRIDA to develop a tool to automatically monitor for loss of separation between aircraft (Automatic Safety Monitoring Tool – ASMT).

ENAIRE- also photos