Spain's airports record 24.7 million passengers in March

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Traffic in the first quarter has benefitted from both passengers who usually use the rail and the timing of Easter

EP

Monday, 13 April 2026, 15:58

Operator Aena's network of airports in Spain closed March with a total of 24.7 million passengers, 3.9% more than in the same month in 2025. This, however, implies a lower growth than the 4.2% recorded between March 2024 and March 2025.

The country's airports handled 216,024 aircraft movements in March, 6.8% more than in March 2025, and transported 114,194 tonnes of cargo, 0.1% more.

In the first three months of 2026, a total of 65.6 million passengers passed through Aena's airports in Spain (3.2% more than in the first quarter of 2025), in addition to records of 564,787 aircraft movements (+1.7%) and 325,926 tonnes of cargo (+5.5%).

A total of 30 million passengers at the airport Aena manages

The total number of airports in the Aena group (comprising 46 airports and two heliports in Spain, London Luton Airport and 17 airports in Brazil) closed March with nearly 30 million passengers, 4.3% more than in the same month of 2025. They managed 264,381 aircraft movements, 6% more than in 2025, and transported 127,610 tonnes of cargo, 0.5% more than in the same month last year.

In cumulative terms, up to March 2026, a total of 81.2 million passengers passed through Aena's airports (3.8% more than in 2025), in addition to 704,326 aircraft movements (+1.3%) and 363,415 tonnes of cargo (+4.8%).

Traffic in the first quarter benefited both from the transfer of passengers from rail transport (following the train accident on January 18) and from the timing of Holy Week, which this year was celebrated between March and April, while last year it fell in April.

Airports

Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport recorded the highest number of passengers in March, with 5.7 million, representing a growth of 4.2% compared to March 2025.

Next are the airports Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 4.5 million (+5.4% compared to 2025); Malaga, with two million (+9.4%); Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernandez, with 1.6 million (+9.1%); Palma de Mallorca, with 1.5 million (+2.8%); Gran Canaria, with 1.4 million (+0.6%); Tenerife Sur, with 1.3 million (-0.4%); and Valencia, with just over one million (+4.2%).

The airports of Gran Canaria and Seville also broke all-time passenger records in March, registering the best figures in their history.

In addition, the network as a whole and 17 other airports have recorded monthly records with the best March figures ever: Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, Malaga, Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, Palma de Mallorca, Gran Canaria, Valencia, Sevilla, Bilbao, Ibiza, Asturias, A Coruña, Melilla, Vitoria, Badajoz, Cordoba and the Ceuta Heliport.

In terms of operations, the airport with the most movements in March was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with a total of 37,221 (+4.7% compared to 2015), followed by Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, with 29,252 flights (+3%); Malaga, with 14,222 (+5.4%); Gran Canaria, with 13,309 (-1.5%); Palma de Mallorca, with 13,015 (+3.1%); and Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 10,097 (+7.5%). Seville Airport broke its all-time record for operations.

Furthermore, March 2026 was the month with the most movements across the network and in 13 airports: Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, Seville, A Coruña, Region of Murcia International Airport, Jerez, Melilla, Cordoba, Logroño, Sabadell and Son Bonet.

Regarding cargo traffic, the airport that reached the highest cargo volume was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, with 67,133 tonnes, 5.3% less than in the same month of 2025.

They are followed by Zaragoza Airport, which recorded 18,430 tonnes (+29.6%) and a monthly record; Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport, with 16,128 tonnes (-1.4%); and Vitoria, with 5,866 tonnes (-1.8%).

Aena's airports in Brazil

Aena Brazil's 17 airports reached a total of 3.8 million passengers in March, 7.2% more than in March 2025.

There were 38,103 aircraft movements (+3.3%) and 12,075 tonnes of transported goods (+16.3%).

ANB's group of six airports closed March with 1,472,300 passengers (+11.8%). Among them, Recife Airport stands out, reaching 894,105 passengers (+14.2%).

There were 13,145 flights (+6.8%), of which Recife handled 7,330 (+2.6%), and 6,466 tonnes of cargo (+19.2%), of which 4,993 tonnes corresponded to the Recife airport (+11.1%).

BOAB's group of eleven airports recorded 2.4 million passengers in March (+4.5%), 24,958 flights (+1.6%) and 5,609 tonnes of good (+13.2%).

Congonhas Airport stands out among them with 2,074,133 passengers (+5.8%) and 4,954 tonnes (+14.4%).

Between January and March 2026, 11.9 million passengers (+7.5%) passed through Aena's airports in Brazil, plus 110,921 aircraft movements and 34,054 tonnes of cargo (+10.9%).

London Luton Airport

A total of 1.3 million passengers passed through the facilities of London-Luton Airport in March 2026, 1.8% more than in 2025.

There were 10,254 aircraft movements (-0.9%) and 1,340 tonnes of cargo (-46.3%).

In the first quarter, London-Luton Airport recorded 3.7 million passengers (+2.9%), 28,618 aircraft movements (-0.7%) and 3,435 tonnes of transported cargo (-51.8%). The decrease in cargo traffic is due to the nighttime closure of the runway for repaving work.