ENAIRE managed over 160,000 flights in August, only 26% less than in 2019

Month by month, the trend continues as air traffic recovers to pre-pandemic levels. ENAIRE managed over 160,000 flights in August (161,893), which is just 26% below the average for the entire network for the same month in 2019, the baseline year for data comparisons, since traffic in 2020 fell to minimal levels as a result of COVID-19.

This recovery in the number of flights in Spain is higher than that recorded throughout Europe, which saw a decrease in August of 29.4% with respect to August 2019.

A comparison between the flights managed by ENAIRE in August 2021 and those in the same period in 2020 shows an increase of 51.4%.

Domestic flights (37,869) exhibited the best trend in August, with a drop of 4.0% compared to the same month in 2019. International flights (89,804) went down by 32.4% compared to two years ago, and overflights (those that do not depart from or land at a Spanish airport) fell by 26.4% to 34,220.

Every ENAIRE control centre recorded traffic drops in August compared to the same month in 2019: Seville, 9.7%; Palma, 14.1%; Canary Islands, 19.6%; Barcelona, 24.7% and Madrid, 27.8%.

Data from January to August

In the first eight months of the year, ENAIRE managed over 650,000 flights (652,459), 55.2% less than in the same period in 2019, of which 327,446 were international (-61.5%), 190,023 domestic (-34.8%); and 134,990 overflights (-57.1%).

A comparison of the flights managed by ENAIRE between January and August 2021 and those in the same period in 2020 shows an increase of 8.0%.

So far this year, half the traffic has been international (50%), 29% domestic and 21% overflights.

Recovery plan

ENAIRE is implementing a Recovery Plan for Air Navigation Services based on the forecasts being received from the European Network Manager. In full cooperation with EUROCONTROL, ENAIRE is working to standardise operational criteria in preparation for returning to pre-pandemic flight levels.

The Plan provides for a recovery of air traffic control operations in stages, based on the expected demand and scheduling criteria, and the efficient use of the available resources.

ENAIRE lowers its charges to help the sector

ENAIRE has again drastically reduced its air navigation charges in 2021 to speed the recovery of the aviation sector.

Of the 38 countries in EUROCONTROL, Spain, through ENAIRE, is the one that is lowering its route charges the most in 2021, around 8% below the average charge.

ENAIRE reduced its continental route charge in 2020 (-16.7%) and 2021 (-11%) by 26%, and in the Canary Islands (-12.5% /-8.5%, respectively) by 20%, thus helping the aviation sector to recover from the crisis brought about by the pandemic.

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).