The flights managed by ENAIRE in July recovered significantly compared to previous months of the pandemic

The number of flights managed by ENAIRE in July recovered significantly from the previous months, which were affected more by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, Spain's air navigation manager handled a total of 81,339 flights, a 63.1% drop.

This fall is significantly less than that recorded in the previous three months: in April, flights fell by 94.7%; In May, they did so by 93.8%, and in June the decrease was 89.7%.

The effects of the pandemic have had an impact on the traffic managed by ENAIRE, as detailed in the table below:

Domestic flights, which numbered 23,535 in July, recovered the most (-43.0%). International flights totalled 44,316 (-66.8%), and overflights (which do not depart from or arrive at a Spanish airport) 13,488 (-70.7%).

The drop in flights in Spain is similar to the decrease in the European average, which is 60.7%.

The drop in flight numbers continues to be generalised at every ENAIRE control centre: Canary Islands (-53.8% and 13,842 flights), Palma (-54.3% and 21,370), Seville (-62.1% and 15,748), Barcelona (-63.3% and 40,522) and Madrid (-66.3% and 37,843). 

The Barcelona Control Centre was the busiest in Spain in July in terms of flights managed, ahead of the Madrid Control Centre.

Cumulative data from January to July
ENAIRE managed 496,956 flights in July (-59.9%), of which 263,828 were international (-63.3%), 122,266 were domestic (-51.5%) and 110,862 were overflights (-58.6%).

All ENAIRE control centres reported cumulative drops, with the Canary Islands, Seville and Madrid centres reporting the lowest decreases.

Recovery plan for air navigation services
ENAIRE is developing a plan to recover air navigation services based on traffic growth forecasts received from the Manager of the European Network, and in full cooperation with said European agency, in order to standardise operational criteria with a view to returning to pre-pandemic flight levels.

This Plan provides for a recovery of air traffic control operations in stages based on the expected demand and scheduling criteria in order to efficiently use the available resources. 

Delayed collection of route charges from airlines
Mindful of the historically exceptional nature of the situation we are experiencing, ENAIRE is exercising responsibility and solidarity by deferring the collection of the route fees it charges airlines until November.

About ENAIRE
ENAIRE is the company of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda that manages air navigation in Spain. It renders aerodrome control services at 21 airports, including the busiest in terms of air traffic, plus en-route and approach control, from five control centres: Barcelona, Madrid, Gran Canaria, Palma and Seville. In addition, ENAIRE provides communications, navigation and surveillance services to 45 air control towers.

In 2019, ENAIRE handled 2.1 million flights to and from four continents (Europe, America, Asia and Africa), transporting 320 million passengers.

ENAIRE is the fourth most important European air navigation service provider, and, in a clear commitment to the Single Sky initiative, belongs to international partnerships such as SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, A6, iTEC, CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).