ENAIRE recovered 92.6% of flights in June compared to the record levels of 2019

The trend in air traffic puts the number of flights managed by ENAIRE at levels very close to those prior to the pandemic. ENAIRE managed over 190,000 flights in June (190,354), which is just 7.4% below the average for the entire network for the same month in 2019, a record year for traffic before the effects of COVID took hold in 2020.

This figure means that ENAIRE, the national air navigation service provider, recovered 92.6% of flights in June compared to 2019 levels.

This recovery in the number of flights in Spain is 6.5 percentage points higher than the average recorded throughout Europe, which saw a decrease in June of 13.9% with respect to 2019.

In June 2022, domestic traffic (37,673 flights) recovered 97.3% compared to the same month in 2019. International flights recovered to 89.7% (112,036), and overflights (those that do not depart from or land at a Spanish airport) to 96.7% (40,645).

There was a notable increase in the number of flights managed by the Seville control centre in June, 40,592 (4.9% more than in the same month in 2019), marking the third consecutive monthly increase.

In Palma, the number of monthly increases now stands at four, with 42,193 flights managed in June, 1.1% more than in the same month in 2019.

In the Canary Islands, 26,905 flights were managed in June, 2.4% fewer than in the same month in 2019. Barcelona handled 96,428 flights, 5.0% fewer, although domestic flights (17,440) went up by 3.7%. The Control Centre with the most flights managed in June was Madrid with 97,715, 8.6% fewer.

A comparison between the flights managed by ENAIRE in June 2022 and those in the same period in 2021 reveals an increase of 92.7%.

Cumulative data for 2022

In the first half of the year, ENAIRE managed 888,520 flights, 12.7% fewer than in the same period in 2019, of which 505,846 were international (-13.6%), 193,075 were domestic (-8.4%) and 189,599 were overflights (-14.6%).

A comparison of the flights managed by ENAIRE in the first six months of the year with those in the same period in 2021 shows an increase of 160.6%.

2022-2023 Summer Plan

For the high air traffic seasons (summer in mainland Spain and Balearic Islands and winter in the Canary Islands) in 2022 and 2023, ENAIRE has an ambitious action plan involving technical, operational and airspace restructuring projects, its so-called "2022-2023 Summer Plan", which is based on the ENAIRE strategy defined in its Strategic Plan, the 2025 Flight Plan, and is part of a framework of work and collaboration with the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, Aena and air carriers and associations.

In light of the continuing upward trend in air traffic, the 2022-2023 Summer Plan includes the national and international technical, operational and human resources measures needed to achieve the best possible safety, efficiency, speed, service quality and sustainability rates.

This requires the implementation of unrestricted routes so that airlines can fly on optimised, phased trajectories in 2022 and 2023-2024; new tools for flow control and dynamic airspace sectors.

Increase in controller staffing

ENAIRE has reinforced the number of air traffic controllers in anticipation of a summer season that is expected to rival the record number of flights in 2019.

By region, the staffing and the increase in controller numbers (those that are qualified and available for duty) are as follows: South, 250 controllers (+9.6%); Canary Islands, 264 (+9.0%); East, 512 (+8.2%), Balearic Islands, 197 (+5.9%) and Central-North, 630 (+1.7%).

The staffing in each region strictly reflects the air traffic management needs assigned to each region.

In all, the number of active controllers across the network has increased by 6% since 2019.

ENAIRE's strategy of increasing the number of air traffic controllers to meet traffic forecasts has been in place since 2016 and will continue. In fact, ENAIRE had a total of 1,968 air traffic controllers in 2016 (including active controllers and those in management and support roles). The total number of controllers currently stands at 2,117 (7.6% more).

Europe's safety leader

ENAIRE reinforces its position as a leader and benchmark in Europe in air safety management.

The European Commission, through the Performance Review Body (PRB) of the Single European Sky, recently published its Monitoring Report 2020 with the results of the monitoring and evaluation process for 2020 for air traffic service providers. The general goal of this report is to identify areas of improvement, encourage best practices and provide recommendations aimed at enhancing safety throughout Europe.

The final result of this process to assess the EOSM was very positive for ENAIRE. In keeping with the European standard, the five components of ENAIRE's Safety Management System are at the highest possible level (100% maturity): Safety policy and goals (C1), Safety culture (C2), Risk Management (C3), Safety Assurance (C4) and Safety Promotion (C5).

According to the official data provided by the European Commission, ENAIRE achieved the highest possible rating in all the areas assessed, scoring over 12 points higher than the average of European service providers.

By virtue of holding this leadership position at the European level, ENAIRE has demonstrated its firm commitment to providing an increasingly safe and robust system, and to achieving excellence in the services it provides.

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the air navigation service provider in Spain.

As a company of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, it provides en route control services for all flights and overflights from five control centres in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Gran Canaria and Palma, as well as approach services to every airport in the country.

In addition, 45 control towers receive ENAIRE's communication, navigation and surveillance services, and 21 airports, including the country's busiest, rely on its aerodrome control services.

ENAIRE is Europe's fourth largest air traffic manager. Since 1 January 2022, it has chaired the A6 Alliance, a coalition of air navigation providers responsible for over 80% of European air traffic, and which is seeking to modernise the air traffic management system. It is also a member of other international alliances promoting the Single European sky, such as SESAR Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, iTEC, CANSO and ICAO.

ENAIRE has received the highest score in Europe on the aviation safety key performance indicator. It has also been awarded the EFQM 500 Seal for its safe, efficient, innovative and sustainable management of air navigation services.