ARCHIVED - Corvera Airport drops in the national ranking after a disappointing 2022
The Murcia airport welcomed more than 20% fewer passengers than in 2019
After getting off to a flying start at the beginning of the year and narrowly missing out on making the ‘top 20’ of the busiest airports in Spain last summer, Murcia’s Corvera airport ended 2022 with a disappointing performance.
None of the Aena airports have managed to completely recover their pre-pandemic levels but Corvera failed to meet its 2019 passenger numbers – the year it opened – by a substantial 23.1%.
During the year, 838,940 people passed through the International Airport which represents a 195.5% increase compared to 2021, when strict coronavirus restrictions were in place. But now, with travel measures lifted, the aerodrome is struggling to make its mark.
After getting off to a great start, Corvera’s passenger numbers progressively lagged as the year moved on and by December, it was ranked at number 28 on the list of busiest airports in the country.
A hugely positive shift has been the influx of domestic travellers to Corvera airport last year, which more than doubled the 2019 figures, but international passenger levels only reached 71.4%. On the other hand, the Murcian airport facilitated a total of 6,663 flights in 2022 which is twice as many operations as the previous year and a recovery of just over 83% compared to before the health crisis.
Far from admitting defeat, the Institute of Tourism of the Region of Murcia (Itrem) will pump an additional 4 million euros into Corvera Airport to encourage new national and international routes in 2023 and the aerodrome is already offering cheap flights to the Canary Islands until March, as well as trips to London-Luton and Manchester from May.
Despite the poor performance of its airport, tourist trade in the Region of Murcia is rebounding nicely and spending by visitors actually tripled during 2022. So strong has the industry turnaround been that the Region far exceeded the Spanish average in terms of length of stay and was the autonomous community with the longest stay duration overall.
-Las rutas internacionales que más tráfico han movido han sido:
— Aeropuerto Reg De Murcia (@AeropuertoRMU_) January 10, 2023
1) Londres Gatwick 163.157 pax
2) Londres Stansted 98.059 pax
3) Manchester 82.357 pax
-Las nacionales:
1) Gran Canaria 27.690 pax
2) Palma de Mallorca 23.062 pax
3) Asturias 9.540 pax pic.twitter.com/iTLcZVTL8s
In other news: Grand Hyatt to open its first hotel in Spain in La Manga
Image: Archive
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