In 2023, Canary Islands airports reached a historic milestone in passenger traffic, recording 48,436,168 passengers, an increase of 11.4% compared to the previous year. Additionally, there was a 7.9% increase in operations, totaling 439,016, figures that, as per Aena, have never been achieved in an annual cycle before.
Aena’s President and CEO, Maurici Lucena, highlighted the significance of these record-breaking figures in air transport for Spain’s economic and social development. He expressed a collective sense of achievement, especially considering the severe impacts of the pandemic on airports and airlines.
A statement released by Aena indicated that airports such as Gran Canaria, Tenerife Sur, Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna, César Manrique-Lanzarote, El Hierro, and La Gomera recorded unprecedented passenger numbers in 2023.
Of the total passengers last year, 48,032,586 were on commercial flights. Among these, 19,786,047 were on domestic flights, a 10.6% increase from 2022, and 28,246,539 on international flights, up by 12.2% compared to the previous year. However, freight transport experienced a slight decline of 1.8% from 2022, totaling 30,692 tonnes.
Gran Canaria Airport saw the highest passenger count at 13,961,638, marking a 12.4% increase from 2022. This was followed by Tenerife South Airport with 12,337,244 passengers, a 14% rise.
Other notable increases in passenger traffic included César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport with 8,212,943 passengers (+11.7%); Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna with 6,120,550 passengers (+10%); Fuerteventura with 6,020,413 (+6.7%); La Palma with 1,368,821 (+4.7%); El Hierro with 301,241 (+10.1%); and La Gomera, with 113,318 passengers and a significant 19.1% growth compared to the previous year.
In December, the Canary Islands airports registered 4,459,312 passengers, a 7.4% increase over the same month in 2022. Of the total 4,430,240 passengers on commercial flights, 1,641,007 were domestic (up 4.6%) and 2,789,233 were international (a 10.4% increase).
The busiest airports were Gran Canaria with 1,350,646 passengers (+6.1%), Tenerife South with 1,219,011 (+11.6%), and César Manrique-Lanzarote with 702,865 (+8.2%).
Following these were Fuerteventura Airport with 518,557 passengers (+3.5%); Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna with 507,168 (+3.9%); La Palma with 128,347 (+10.7%); El Hierro with 24,003 (+9.4%); and La Gomera with 8,715 passengers (+4.3%).
Regarding aircraft operations, December saw 40,057 movements, a 3.6% increase from the same month in 2022. Cargo transported amounted to 2,821 tonnes, slightly up by 0.6% from December 2022.
