The ENAIRE Control Centre in Barcelona managed over 221,000 flights this summer, an almost 2% increase

ENAIRE managed a total of 221,000 flights from its Air Control Centre in Barcelona between July and August, nearly 2% more (1.9%) than in the same period in 2018.

This summer saw an increase in all traffic types: 0.8% in international flights (163,615), 2.5% in domestic flights (35,289) and 9.6% in overflights (22,141).

The record stands at 3,847 flights in one day

On Saturday, 10 August, the ENAIRE Control Centre in Barcelona set a new daily record with 3,847 flights.

Spanish airspace registered 439,452 flights in July and August, 1.9% more that the European average in the same period (+0.7%).

Cumulative annual data

In the first eight months of the year, ENAIRE's Air Control Centre in Barcelona managed 673,724 movements, a 4.40% increase.

In ENAIRE's network as a whole, a total of 2019 flights have been managed so far in 1,457,366, 3.7% more than in 2018.

Eastern Region

ENAIRE's Air Control Centre in Barcelona manages an airspace that covers 300,000 square kilometres and includes Catalonia, Valencia, part of the regions of Murcia and Aragon, as well as a large patch of Spain's Mediterranean territorial waters. The Barcelona and Valencia terminal areas (TMA) fall within its radius.

Summer Plan: The fruits of our effort

As part of the Summer Plan, at the start of the year ENAIRE rolled out a series of technical and operational initiatives to manage the growth of air traffic while offering every assurance in terms of safety, capacity, efficiency, sustainability and quality of service.

Thanks to the measures promoted by "BCN A PUNT" and the ATENEA Plan, the delays attributable to air navigation in Barcelona have fallen by 54% so far this year

These measures translated into a framework of continuous collaboration with Aena, the airlines and airline associations, other air navigation providers from other countries and the European network manager, EUROCONTROL.

This summer, ENAIRE's contribution was fundamental to the initiative of the Network Manager (EUROCONTROL) and its network action plan, intended to mitigate air traffic congestion in some European countries and containing specific incentives such as diverting almost a thousand flights a day from April to November so that traffic flows can avoid the saturated areas of Karlsruhe (Germany), Marseille (France) and Maastricht (Netherlands), which have capacity problems.

70% of the air traffic regulations in Spain recorded from January to August were due to regulations in Europe.

Spain successfully managed 160 additional flights a day

In this operational scenario, ENAIRE fulfilled its commitment to EUROCONTROL to improve how flights are managed in the airspace between Spain and France, where the traffic is heavy during the peak season. Specifically, ENAIRE has accepted some 160 additional flights a day by re-routing 48 new routes, thus helping to reduce the impact of delays in busy areas across the European network as a whole.

ENAIRE also promoted a series of measures across its five control centres, in addition to measures specific to each, in keeping with their specific characteristics and needs.

Good results for ENAIRE's ATENEA Plan and the "BCN A PUNT" initiative

The "BCN A PUNT" initiative warrants special recognition. Promoted by the Ministry of Works to maximise both land-side and air-side capacity at the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport, this initiative is a joint project between ENAIRE (through the ATENEA Office), Aena, the Civil Aviation General Directorate, Aesa and EUROCONTROL.

The net result of all this has been a considerable reduction (54% from January to August) in delays attributable to air navigation at El Prat.

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the company belonging to the Public Works Department that provides air navigation services 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 2018 ENAIRE handled 2.1 million flights to and from four continents (Europe, America, Asia and Africa), transporting 300 million passengers. ENAIRE has managed 1,457,366 flights so far this year, 4% more than in the same period in 2018.

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).