Ryanair has announced a record schedule for Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport this summer. The leading low-cost operator plans to offer 80 routes during the peak holiday season, including 10 new destinations, as well as increased frequencies on more than 30 of its most popular Alicante routes.
The announcement coincides with latest figures released by airport authority Aena which show that passenger numbers at the airport last month were the highest-ever for January. The total of 795,148 passengers in January was 1.3 per cent more than for the same month (pre-pandemic) in 2019, and a 68.1 per cent increase compared with 2022.
The countries with the most passengers during January 2023 were the United Kingdom (245,279), followed by the Netherlands (69,503), Belgium (58,447), Norway (37,999), Germany (36,928) and Poland (30,786).
In terms of operations, Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport handled a total of 5,443 flights, which represented 90.5 per cent of the number in January 2019 and was 28.1 per cent higher than those recorded in January 2022.
Ryanair alone reports more than 6.3 million passengers a year at Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport.
For summer 2023, its expansion plans include:
- Two new aircraft based at the airport (13 in total).
- Four of these are “Gamechangers”, according to the airline, as they operate with 16 per cent less fuel emissions and carry four per cent more passengers.
- Eighty routes including new 10 new destinations: Belfast, Fez, Frankfurt Hahn, Klagenfurt, Lodz, Paderborn, Rome-Fiumicino, Santander, Turin and Warsaw.
- Increased frequencies for 30 routes including Bordeaux, London Stansted, Milan Bergamo, Porto and Bologna.
- This represents more than 19 per cent growth compared with summer 2022.
To mark this record Alicante schedule, Ryanair is launching a special seat offer with fares from €29.99 for travel between April 2023 and October 2023. They must be booked before midnight on 17 February at www.ryanair.com.
“Ryanair, Spain’s number one airline for low fares and reliability, is delighted to announce its largest-ever flight schedule to Alicante for summer 2023,” said Elena Cabrera, country manager for Spain and Portugal, “offering Alicante’s citizens and visitors even more options for their summer holidays at the lowest fares in Europe.
“This record schedule will see the addition of two new based aircraft (13 in total), representing a further $200 million investment in Alicante-Elche Airport ($1.3 billion in total) and supporting more than 390 direct jobs between pilots and crew, as Ryanair continues to offer more traffic, connectivity and lower fares than any other airline in Spain.”
Ryanair previously announced a new Teesside schedule for summer 2023, including Alicante; confirmed its Exeter summer connection with the Costa Blanca gateway; and reported that Alicante-Elche Airport would have increased frequencies on its Edinburgh and Liverpool routes. It subsequently also announced that the Aberdeen summer schedule would include weekly flights to Alicante.
Face masks are no longer required on flights in Spain.
