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| Contributing to the airport passenger fall: On the Madrid-Barcelona route, high speed rail now has more passengers than air services. Between July and September, the train service was used by 650,000 passengers, while there were 645,000 air travellers. |
In October, six of Spain’s top 15 airports reported year-on-year traffic growth, the most encouraging performance so far this year. Of course, it should be remembered that last October’s figures already reflected a significant downturn in demand. Spain’s biggest airport at Madrid Barajas led the way with growth of 3.3%, while Ibiza (+2.6%) and Girona (+1.6%) also reported improved passenger demand.
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| Source: Aena |
Looking at how demand for specific airlines compared between October 2009 and October 2008 reveals that Ryanair has seen passenger numbers passing through Spanish airports leap by over 44%. Among the top 15 airlines, only Air Europa (+0.6%), easyJet (+1.0%) and Lufthansa (+11.9%) have seen traffic growth. Demand on Iberia services is down almost 10% while the “new Vueling” is down 7% compared with a combined Vueling and clickair a year ago. The poor year-on-year performance of the UK and German charter/hybrid carriers is worth noting.
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| Source: Aena |
Barcelona – Madrid air market down 40%
The latest data from Aena indicates that the 20-month-old high-speed rail (HSR) service between Madrid and Barcelona has reduced air travel demand between the two cities by around 40%. In 2007, the route carried almost five million passengers. Last year, the figure fell to 3.66 million after services began in March and this year the figure will be around 2.9 million.
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| Source: Aena |
Although monthly year-on-year figures have improved in recent months, this is because the service has now been in operation for over a year. If 2009 monthly air traffic figures are compared with 2007, then the results are far more stable. Air passenger demand is down between 39% and 42% in eight of the ten months this year.
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