Spain recovers 70% of 2019 air capacity by the end of summer season
The number of seats scheduled by airlines on international flights to Spain for the months of September and October reached 14,196,367 seats, a volume that represents 70% of those in the same period of 2019 and practically triple that of the equivalent months last year, according to data on air capacity released by Turespaña.
"At the end of the summer season, Spain is regaining greater stability in international flight schedules, which contributes to the gradual consolidation of the recovery of tourism, as a result of the security offered by our country, with one of the highest percentages in the world of the population vaccinated against COVID-19, over 72%," said the Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto.
In the minister's opinion, "the forecasts for seats to fly to Spain in September and October allow us to think that the summer season could be extended and to face the coming months with greater confidence to continue consolidating the recovery of international tourism, which is still slow due to the mobility restrictions that still exist in important issuing markets such as the USA and Asian countries".
According to Eurocontrol data, in August Spain recovered three quarters of the air traffic it had in the same month of 2019, another record year in terms of international tourist arrivals. Spain's records are thus above the European average, which in August recovered 71% of the air traffic of the same month in 2019.
Capacities by market
The markets with the best performance are Denmark and the Netherlands, with a volume of seats scheduled to Spain in September and October reaching 96% (290,447 seats) and 93.2% (908,187 seats) of the air capacity for the same period in 2019, respectively.
From the UK, more than 3.2 million seats are expected to be operated between September and October (66.7% of what was operated in the same months of 2019); from Germany 2.5 million seats (75% of 2019), from Italy 1.2 million seats (72%) and from France more than 995,000 seats (62% of what was operated in the same months of 2019).
The markets that are showing a slower recovery are the long-haul markets, whose air capacities are still 58.7% below 2019 levels in the case of the US, 76.8% in the case of Russia or 92% from China.