Spain touched 20 million international air travelers from January to March 2024, which represents 16% compared to 2023. According to figures published today by Turespaña, the Spanish Tourism Institute, significant growth is highlighted in March in the markets. from Poland, Italy and Switzerland.
Thus, in March the positive trend registered in the first two months of the year is maintained and there is a significant increase in international air passengers, which grew by 16.8% year-on-year to reach 7.6 million travelers. 57% originated within the European Union, experiencing an increase of 19.9%, while the flow from the rest of the world, which accounted for the remaining 43%, increased by 13.9%.
March thus continues with the upward trend of the beginning of the year as passengers issued to Spain from all the main issuing countries increase. The notable growth in Poland (80.4%), Germany (22.2%), Switzerland (21.4%) and Italy (21.2%) stands out.
Market diversification
Regarding market diversification (“rest of countries”), the strong growth of China, South Korea and Canada stands out with values over 100%. The United Kingdom, with 1.6 million international passengers, generated 20.7% of the total flow of arrivals to Spain last March, registering a year-on-year increase of 10.3%. The Canary Islands were the largest recipient of British arrivals, reaching 36.7% of the total passengers of this nationality.
The Valencian Community, Andalusia, Catalonia and Galicia were the biggest beneficiaries of the increase in arrivals, registering growth of more than 10% year-on-year. 82.3% of British passengers traveled on a low-cost company, with the United Kingdom being the leader in arrivals on these companies, contributing 28.7% of the total.
Passenger arrival data.
For its part, passenger arrivals from Germany slightly exceeded one million passengers (14% of the total), increasing by 22.2% compared to March 2023. German travelers went mainly to the Canary Islands (32% of passengers). and Balearic Islands. (23.4%).
For the Minister of Industry and Tourism Jordi Hereu, these figures are a symptom “not only of the good health of our tourism and international confidence in the quality of our destinations, but also of the unstoppable process of deseasonalization of arrival flows and the end of the distinction between low season and high season that historically characterized this industry.”
The Ministry of Tourism highlights that less than half of German passengers (47.1% of the total) traveled on traditional companies, with Germany being the market that led the arrivals on this type of company (16.3% of the total). From Italy it reached 9.4% of the flow of passengers received in March (717,575 travelers), registering a year-on-year growth of 21.2%, which especially benefited Catalonia and the Community of Madrid. The Basque Country and Asturias registered notable year-on-year growth of over 100%.
Low cost flights
Among Italian travelers, those who opt for low-cost airlines predominate, 79.6%, with an increase of 23.9% compared to a year ago. France, for its part, accounted for 7.5% of the total number of passengers in March, reflecting an expansion of 14% that especially favored Madrid, Catalonia and Valencia, which received more than 10,000 additional passengers each compared to the same month of the year. last year. . 65.3% of French passengers used a low-cost company on their flights, experiencing a year-on-year growth of 11.2%.
Finally, 4.8% of all travelers arrived from the Netherlands. This market has experienced a growth of 12.3% in March and had Catalonia, the Valencian Community and Andalusia as its main destinations, accounting for around 62.7% of the arrival share together. The vast majority of travelers from the Netherlands (72.4%) also opted for low-cost companies to make their flights.
The airports where the most travelers registered
On the other hand, the six main receiving communities accumulated an arrival rate of 97.4% and all experienced increases in the third month of the year. The largest increase was recorded in Andalusia with a year-on-year increase of 22.5%, and the most moderate, 11.7%, was that of the Community of Madrid.
The Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport received the most arrivals in March, with 1.9 million, followed by Barcelona, with 1.5 million, and Malaga, with 726,031. The largest year-on-year increase occurred precisely at Malaga airport, with 21.6% more, followed by Valencia, with 20.2%.
