El Prat Airport exceeds 26 million scheduled seats this winter

BarcelonaAfter a record-breaking summer, El Prat Airport is preparing to continue its run this winter. Airlines are maintaining their commitment to Barcelona with more seats in the coming months, confirming their forecast for another record-breaking year. the theoretical capacity limit infrastructure. More passengers than ever before are still not limiting airline operations or causing complaints among users.

Airlines have scheduled 26 million seats for the winter season—from the end of October to the end of March. This figure represents a 6.1% increase compared to last year, the Association of Airlines (ALA) reported this Wednesday.

Although the summer season has historically been the busiest at El Prat Airport, the winter season has been strong for years, a potential growth opportunity if the airport continues to gain passengers with its current capacity. This is due not only to the needs of the existing infrastructure, but also to changes in passenger numbers, who are increasingly fragmenting their vacations and saving days beyond the summer, not to mention climate change, with temperatures that allow travel beyond August.

A growth trend in Barcelona that continues throughout the rest of Spain. Nearly 140 million seats have been scheduled across all of Spain's airports for the winter months, 4.7% more than a year ago, after handling 184 million passengers during the summer, a 3.6% increase. "We're going from record year to record year. Everything seems to indicate that in 2025 we will have a new passenger record in Spain," remarks Javier Gándara, president of ALA and general manager of easyJet in Southern Europe.

However, these increases are moderating compared to previous years, when significant increases were recorded after the shutdown caused by the pandemic. "As you grow, the base is larger and it's difficult to maintain the pace. But this isn't a concern: we're reaching traffic levels that were unthinkable some time ago," Gándara remarks. This moderation is most noticeable in domestic flights, which decreased for the first time in the summer months (-0.4%), in contrast to the 10% increase in intercontinental flights and the 5% increase in intra-European flights.

These winter growth forecasts are holding up at the national level. Ryanair cuts one million seats in protest at the increase in airport charges announced by AenaGalicia is the most affected autonomous community, with a 17% drop in scheduled seats this winter, after the Irish airline closed its Santiago base and canceled all flights to Vigo. In Barcelona, ​​​​as a result of the cuts at various Spanish airports, Ryanair will also reduce its capacity by 5%. the increase in rates, which will be 6.5% starting in March after years of freezes or decreases, the employers' association has once again called for avoiding this. "We have a lot at stake," Gándara emphasized.

Connectivity with the islands is in danger

Another of ALA's recurring requests is the updating of state payments to airlines for subsidized flights to the Balearic and Canary Islands, as well as to Ceuta and Melilla, which have a 75% reduction in ticket prices for residents. "If there are no budgets again, the ball will get bigger and could end up affecting connectivity," the executive warned. This year, it is estimated that up to €1.2 billion will remain unpaid.