ENAIRE exceeded in 2018 the mark of 2 million managed flights, transporting over 300 million passengers

ENAIRE, the Spanish air navigation operator and fourth most important in Europe, has closed a historical year with a total of 2,092,527 managed flights, 5% more than in 2017. This growth positions Spain well above the European average, which boasts a 3.7% annual growth rate.

During the year 2018, ENAIRE's network broke the record of daily traffic sixteen times; the current record, registered on 28 July, is set at 7,343 flights.

Air traffic grows in all ENAIRE Control Centres: Madrid, 1,146,611 (+5.2%); Barcelona, 953,070 (+4.2%); Seville, 403,086 (+5.9%); Canary Islands, 354,126 (+6.7%); and Palma, 323,167 (+3.9%).

Out of the total flights managed during the 12 months of the year, domestic flights grew by 7.9% (421,487), among of which the air traffic registered in the Control Centres of the Canary Islands and Palma stand out, with a 17.2% (143,067) and a 7.3% (104,901) increase respectively.

ENAIRE will continue to prepare for the summer seasons of 2019 and 202

ENAIRE, the Spanish air navigation operator and fourth most important in Europe, has closed a historical year with a total of 2,092,527 managed flights, 5% more than in 2017. This growth positions Spain well above the European average, which boasts a 3.7% annual growth rate.

During the year 2018, ENAIRE's network broke the record of daily traffic sixteen times; the current record, registered on 28 July, is set at 7,343 flights.

Air traffic grows in all ENAIRE Control Centres: Madrid, 1,146,611 (+5.2%); Barcelona, 953,070 (+4.2%); Seville, 403,086 (+5.9%); Canary Islands, 354,126 (+6.7%); and Palma, 323,167 (+3.9%).

Out of the total flights managed during the 12 months of the year, domestic flights grew by 7.9% (421,487), among of which the air traffic registered in the Control Centres of the Canary Islands and Palma stand out, with a 17.2% (143,067) and a 7.3% (104,901) increase respectively.

In terms of cumulative international flights, out of the 1,230,451 flights (+3.4%), 674,375 flights (+3.5%) have been managed by Barcelona, 604,787 (4.8%) by Madrid and 217,524 (+2.3%) by Palma.

Overflights in the Spanish airspace grew by 6.9% in 2018, with a total of 440,589 overflights (+6.9%); the growth registered in the Control Centres of the Canary Islands (14.9%, 32,890 overflights), Barcelona (7.8%, 98,190) and Madrid (6.7%, 345,464) particularly stand out.

Record broken in the Canary Islands in December

The total traffic registered in December grew by 7.6%, with 148,983 managed flights, achieving 63 months of uninterrupted growth. 

The ENAIRE Control Centre in the Canary Islands broke its own daily flights record on 22 December by managing 1,498 flights over the archipelago.

Working towards the 2019 Summer Plan

The performance of the air traffic management sector in Europe, especially in terms of capacity, requires additional measures to ensure a safe, efficient, flexible and coordinated response to the challenges faced by ever-increasing air traffic, making the involvement of air navigation service providers a crucial link in the air transport value chain.

In Spain's case, ENAIRE is sparing neither efforts nor resources when it comes to designing, developing and implementing the most appropriate and effective measures, from the multidisciplinary point of view of safety, capacity, efficiency, technological drive and staffing of air traffic controllers. These measures are all set out in its Capacity and Efficiency Plan, within the company's 2020 Strategic Flight Plan.

The forecast for 2019 is a continuation of the air traffic's growth at a rate of 4%; therefore, ENAIRE will continue to prepare for the summer seasons of 2019 and 2020. ENAIRE's 2020 Strategic Flight Plan includes security and capacity reinforcing measures. In addition, the operating capacity in the Barcelona-El Prat Airport will be improved with the ‘BCN À Punt’ initiative implemented by the Ministry of Development. ENAIRE will speed up landings and takeoffs and reduce delays while airborne, by using predictive techniques that will optimise the movements. These solutions will improve traffic flow control during the peak season.

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the company belonging to the Public Works Department that handles air navigation in Spain. It renders aerodrome control services at 21 airports, including those with the most traffic.

All aircraft crossing the airspace assigned to our country receive communications, navigation and surveillance services using ENAIRE's modern network of facilities, consisting of:

5 control centres, 2 terminal area control centres, 308 radio aids providing en-route airport guidance and approach support, 54 en-route, approach and surface surveillance systems, 130 communications centres (combining transmitter/receiver centres and control towers), 100 REDAN voice and data communication nodes for air navigation applications, 126 control tower posts, and 153 control centre posts.