The airlines that operate out of the Alicante-Elche airport, since its reopening after the state of alarm, are offering this summer (between July and September) about 8,000 flights and almost 1.4 million seats, despite the continuous restrictions such as quarantine in many countries for those who travel from Spain. These are figures that show the commitment of these companies to the Costa Blanca, according to the Alicante Provincial Government.
Leading airlines such as Volotea, Air France, British Airways, Wizz Air, easyJet, Norwegian, Ryanair and KLM have all opted, this summer, to launch more than a dozen new national and international routes into and out of Alicante-Elche airport. London Heathrow, Vienna, Exeter, Dusseldorf, Amsterdam, Warsaw and Luxembourg are just some of the new destinations that connect with the province of Alicante through these airlines.
The director of the Costa Blanca Board of Trustees, José Mancebo, has said in a statement these connections “show the potential, attractiveness and tourist strength of our region”, adding that “the municipalities and the sector have made a great effort to reinvent themselves, face the future with positivity and adapt their services to the safety and hygiene protocols that COVID-19 now requires. All this work is beginning to bear fruit through the trust that these partner airlines are placing in us”.
Among the main draws is the new British Airways link that, for the first time, connects the province with London’s Heathrow terminal, which has been motivated by the increase in British people who are buying a home on the Costa Blanca, the reintroduction by KLM of the summer route to Amsterdam, with an average of four weekly journeys, 18,406 seats and 106 flights, or the introduction of a flight with the Polish city of Warsaw, operated by the Polish Airline LOT.
“Despite the difficult situation we are going through, the Alicante-Elche airport is one of the best positioned airports internationally. Proof of this is the high percentage of scheduled flights that companies are maintaining, between seventy and eighty percent”, Mancebo said.
Since the coronavirus crisis began, the Alicante Provincial Council has developed many different initiatives and promotional campaigns aimed at reactivating the flow of visitors, and accelerating the recovery of the sector by publicising the territory as a safe destination, the institution highlights in the statement.
“Among other actions, we have met with companies, groups and associations to establish strategies in order to promote and work on a plan to stop the recession, we have approved an initial aid package amounting to half a million euros, in collaboration with the Generalitat Valenciana, and we have carried out he requirements of the Government of Spain in the line of prolonging the ERTEs due to the force majeure, and also proposing a ‘fiscal summer’ that reduces the tax pressure in 2020”, explained Mancebo.
“Although it is too early to make forecasts, there are signs that the confidence of the airlines at Alicante-Elche airport will continue in the coming months. But regardless of their current plans, of course, we must be aware that the situation will be conditioned by the evolution of the pandemic,” he concluded.
