ARCHIVED - Over 150,000 passengers fewer so far this year at the new airport in Corvera

The November figures show a decrease of 8,000 compared with the same month last year

There can be no disputing the fact that despite the great optimism at the opening of the Region of Murcia International Airport in Corvera in January 2019 the inauguration of the infrastructure has coincided with a significant drop in passenger numbers compared with the 2018 data at the airport of San Javier, and the figures for November, which were published by Aena on Tuesday, show a continuation of the downward trend that marked the summer flight schedules.

During November the number of passengers passing through the terminal building at Corvera was 40,727, representing a “loss” of just under 8,000 travellers compared to the same month last year at San Javier. In absolute terms the decrease is far less important than in October, when there was a fall of 23,000, but of course with the onset of winter flight schedules the figures are much lower than during the summer and in real terms the drop of 16.2 per cent is a very significant one.

The cumulative total for 2019 now stands at 1,075,617 (including the first fortnight when 21,559 people were on board the flights still taking off and landing at San Javier), over 151,000 (or 12.3 per cent) fewer than at the same point of last year.

The data also show that this June there were 375 flights at Corvera as opposed to 403 at San Javier last November, a decrease of 7 per cent.

To add to the disappointment, the November figures for the Murcia airport come in the context of a nationwide increase of a 3.6 per cent at all of the airports managed by Aena in Spain. This brought the overall passenger total up to 18.35 million during the month, with increases reported at most of the country’s busiest airports including Alicante-Elche, where a rise of 4.8 per cent took the total up to 934,652.

One aspect of the November data at Corvera which did not change, however, was the dominance of flights between the Costa Cálida and the UK and Ireland on the arrivals and departures boards. Passengers on UK-Murcia flights accounted for 77.9 per cent of the overall total, with the bulk of the rest travelling on the services to and from Dublin (7.2 per cent), Belgium (9.7 per cent) and domestic flights within Spain (3.7 per cent). In addition, there were 531 people travelling to and from Denmark, but the absence of flights connecting the Costa Cálida to the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands and Germany is still denting the overall figures.

It should be pointed out that the figures at Corvera are low in comparison with those recorded during 2018 at San Javier, but they are not disappointing in the context of the expectations of Aena, the airport management company. In passing the million mark in 2019 the objective has been met, although it is reported in regional newspaper La Verdad that over the 25 years of the management contract the amount paid by Aena to the regional government, which depends on passenger figures, is likely to amount to around 60 million euros.

This does not compare favourably to the cost of building the airport, which is calculated to have been around 220 million euros, or the amount of debt outstanding (182 million euros).

Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news, events and information in the Region of Murcia and the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/