Alicante-Elche Airport handled more than 16.8 million passengers in the first nine months of the year, putting it on course to surpass its annual record.
September continued the airport’s strong run, with 2,127,532 passengers — 11.5% more than in the same month last year. Aircraft movements also rose, increasing by 12.4% to 13,146, according to operator Aena.
International traffic remained the main driver of growth. Nearly 1.88 million passengers travelled on international routes during the month, an increase of more than 12%. Domestic traffic grew by 7% to more than 235,900 passengers.
The United Kingdom was by far the largest international market, accounting for more than a third of September’s passengers. Germany followed with around 141,000, ahead of the Netherlands with 119,000 and Poland with 117,000.
On course to beat 2025
The airport would need to handle just over 3.2 million more passengers in the final three months of the year to exceed its 2025 total, which came close to 20 million. That would require an average of slightly more than one million passengers a month — well below the monthly totals recorded since May.
More than 105,500 flights operated at the airport between January and September, up 10.4% on the same period last year.
Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport is located in the municipality of Elche, about nine kilometres southwest of Alicante. It opened to national and international traffic on 4 May 1967. Aena says the importance of tourism is reflected in the airport’s route mix, with international passengers accounting for around 85% of traffic.
