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Date Published: 13/02/2026

Alicante airport continues its unstoppable run as Brits keep flying in

The Costa Blanca hub had another record-breaking January and is now Spain's sixth busiest airport

Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport has kicked off 2026 with another record-breaking month, proving that last year's phenomenal performance wasn't a one-off.

The airport handled 1,106,689 passengers in January, marking a 4.7% increase on the same month in 2025 and maintaining the momentum from a record-breaking year that saw 19.9 million passengers pass through the terminal.

These figures have pushed Alicante up to sixth place among Spain's busiest airports by passenger volume this past month, sitting behind Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga, Gran Canaria and Tenerife South.

More impressively, it's got the second-highest percentage growth among these top six, beaten only by Málaga Airport which saw a 5.1% increase.

To put that in perspective, Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport registered the highest number of passengers in January with 5,379,569, representing a 3.5% increase compared to the same month last year.

Barcelona-El Prat Airport came in second with 3,806,895 passengers (up 3%), followed by Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport with 1,440,294 passengers (up 5.1%), Gran Canaria Airport with 1,398,924 passengers (up 2.1%) and Tenerife South Airport with 1,275,134 passengers (down 1%).

Palma de Mallorca would be next after Alicante, with 882,638 passengers, which is 3% less than in January 2025.

The figures show once again that international travel is absolutely dominating at Alicante Airport. International traffic jumped by 6.6% with 950,021 passengers recorded, demonstrating that foreign visitors are still choosing the Costa Blanca in droves.

The flip side is that domestic traffic continues its downward slide, with 155,593 passengers representing a 6.1% decrease compared to January 2025, following the initial surge in activity after the coronavirus pandemic that's now well and truly worn off.

When it comes to where all these international passengers are coming from, the UK once again led the pack in January with 288,107 travellers making the journey. The Netherlands came in second with 82,474 passengers, followed by Poland with 79,892, Belgium with 76,174 and Germany with 65,543.

Flight operations also hit record figures with 7,521 movements in January, representing a 5.6% increase compared to the same period in 2025.

What makes these statistics particularly impressive for Alicante Airport is that the growth rate actually outpaces what's happening across the rest of Spain's airport network.

Spanish terminals closed January with 20,315,707 passengers, which is 2.6% more than in the same month of 2025. However, that represents a significantly lower growth rate than the 6.1% recorded between January 2025 and January 2024, suggesting that the overall national picture is one of slowing growth. Alicante, on the other hand, is clearly bucking that trend and continuing to pull in passengers at a healthy clip.

Image: Aena

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