The airports in the Aena network closed April with 3,671,802 passengers, 84.2% fewer than in the same month of 2019, along with 81,586 aircraft movements, 58.0% lower, and 78,169 tons of freight, a 9.4% drop. The decline in passenger traffic has continued this month due to restrictions on travel both in Spain and the rest of the world caused by COVID-19.
It should be borne in mind that a state of emergency was declared in Spain in mid-March 2020 and continued on into April, leading to the lockdown of the entire country and consequently a ban on all non-essential journeys. The pandemic also resulted in travel restrictions worldwide. Due to these factors, comparison with 2020 figures has been dropped as they are not very representative (for example, with respect to 2020 the comparison is 2,503.9% more in passenger traffic, 542% more in operations and 125.4% more in freight).
Out of the total number of travellers registered in April, 3,647,148 were commercial passengers with 2,034,937 on domestic flights, 71.5% fewer than in April 2019, and 1,612,211 on international flights, down by 89.9%.
Traffic by airports
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport had the highest number of passengers in the fourth month of the year at 986,136, which is a 80.5% decrease compared to April 2019. It is followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport, with 481,682 (-89.3%); Palma de Mallorca with 433,630 (-82.8%); Gran Canaria with 272,046 (-75.4%); Málaga-Costa del Sol with 209,654 (-88.5%); Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna with 195,442 (-59.5%) and Tenerife Sur with 119,136 (-87.4%).
In terms of the number of operations, the airport that recorded the highest number of movements in April was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas with a total of 12,173 and a fall of 65.1% compared to April 2019. It was followed by Palma de Mallorca with 6,625 flights (-65.1%); Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat with 6,360 (-78.6); Gran Canaria with 4,871 (-54.1%); Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna with 3,780 (-39.2%); Málaga-Costa del Sol with 3,592 (-72.9%); Seville with 2,326 (-59%) and Valencia with 2,227 (-65.9%).
The airports mainly operating non-commercial flights with the highest number of movements in April 2021 were Madrid-Cuatro Vientos with 5,319 operations and 68.4% more compared to 2019; Sabadell with 4,447 (+32.1%) and Jerez with 3,758 (-13.1% fewer).
As far as goods are concerned, 78,169 tons of freight were handled throughout the network in April, 9.4% less than in the same month in 2019 due to the fact that a very significant part of regular freight is carried in commercial passenger planes. Here it should be noted that during this period Aena focused its efforts on operations for medical supplies and other essential goods together with ensuring that everyone was able to return to their home countries.
The four airports with the highest freight traffic were Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas with 40,309 tons and 8.7% less than in 2019; Zaragoza with 16,174 tons (+1.9%); Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat with 10,345 tons (-26%); and Vitoria with 5,825 tons (+17.1%).