In August, ENAIRE managed half as many flights as it did in the same month last year

Air traffic in the past month totalled 106.945 flights, 51.1% less

The number of flights managed by ENAIRE in August recovered significantly from the previous months, which were affected more by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this trend in August, the figures are showing a new drop in air traffic. Last August, Spain's air navigation manager handled 106,945 flights, 51.1% less than in the same month in 2019, which indicates a recovery of almost half the traffic recorded over the same period in the previous year.

This fall is significantly less than that recorded in the previous months: in April, flights fell by 94.7%; in May, they did so by 93.8%, in June the decrease was 89.7%, and in July it was 63.1%.

The effects of the pandemic have had an impact on the traffic managed by ENAIRE, as detailed in the table below:

Domestic flights, which numbered 30,091 in August, recovered the most (-23.7%). International flights totalled 57,680 (-56.6%), and overflights (which do not depart from or arrive at a Spanish airport) numbered 19,174 (-58.8%).

Domestic flights, 30.091 in August, are showing the best numbers, considering the overall situation involving air traffic

The average drop in flights in Europe (-51.5%) was higher than in Spain in August. 

The drop in flight numbers continues to be generalised at every ENAIRE control centre: Canary Islands (-40.0% and 18,126 flights), Palma (-42.0% and 27,489), Seville (-49.1% and 21,115), Barcelona (-52.0% and 53,053) and Madrid (-52.9% and 51,649). 

The Barcelona Control Centre was the busiest in Spain in August in terms of flights managed, ahead of the Madrid Control Centre.

Cumulative data from January to August
ENAIRE managed 603,901 flights from 1 January to 31 August (-58.6%), of which 321,508 were international (-62.2%), 152,357 (-47.7%) were domestic and 130,036 (-58.7%) were overflights.

All ENAIRE control centres reported cumulative drops, with the Canary Islands, Seville and Madrid centres reporting the lowest decreases.

Recovery plan for air navigation services
ENAIRE is executing a plan to recover air navigation services based on traffic growth forecasts received from the Manager of the European Network, and in full cooperation with said European agency, in order to standardise operational criteria with a view to returning to pre-pandemic flight levels and that also considers health promotion and service continuity criteria.

This Plan provides for a recovery of air traffic control operations in stages based on the expected demand and scheduling criteria in order to efficiently use the available resources. 

Delayed collection of route charges from airlines
Mindful of the historically exceptional nature of the situation we are experiencing, ENAIRE is exercising responsibility and solidarity by deferring the collection of the route fees it charges airlines until November.

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).