Spain's International Air Travel: Nearly 10.5 Million Seats Planned For October
Spain News
Published: 04 October 2023 17:03 CET
In a remarkable turn of events, Spain's tourism sector is witnessing a stunning resurgence, as revealed by the latest data from the Spanish tourism office, Turespaña. The numbers indicate a staggering 9.8 percent year-on-year increase in the number of flight seats offered in October 2023 compared to the same month in 2022, which had seen a total of 9.6 million seats available.
This year-on-year surge is particularly striking when compared to the pre-pandemic benchmark of October 2019, where 10.1 million planned seats were recorded. This indicates a significant positive shift in the tourism industry, with a substantial difference of 393,552 more seats compared to the same period in 2019.
Turespaña's data highlights several standout performers in the month of October. Poland takes the lead with a remarkable 47.4 percent increase in booked seats compared to October 2022. The Czech Republic closely follows with a 26.6 percent year-on-year growth, while Portugal boasts a substantial growth rate of 21.2 percent.
Mexico, a distant market, has also shown significant promise, recording a notable year-on-year growth of 20.5 percent in the number of seats on scheduled flights for October.
Héctor Gómez, the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Tourism, has expressed his optimism regarding these statistics. He emphasised that they not only reflect the strengthening of European markets but also the positive performance of distant markets, such as Mexico and the United States. Gómez stressed the importance of ensuring continued air connectivity to position Spain as a sustainable, diverse, and high-quality destination for travellers.
"The projection is that this last quarter of the year will round off an extraordinary year for tourism in our country, with every indication that it will continue in 2024," stated the Tourism Minister.
When examining the percentage of seats booked by country, the United Kingdom takes the lead, accounting for 22.7 percent of the total reserved seats. Germany follows with 14.9 percent, while Italy holds 8.9 percent of the pie. Together, these three countries account for nearly half of all the reserved seats.
These positive trends follow earlier data, which revealed that airlines had reserved over 32.4 million seats for flights to Spain between June and August 2022, marking a remarkable recovery of 94 percent compared to the same period in 2019.
In terms of the markets sending visitors to Spain, Austria leads the pack with an impressive increase of 7.1 percent, followed by Norway with 6.9 percent, Denmark with 6.2 percent, and Poland with 2.3 percent growth.
In interpreting this data, it is essential to keep in mind that airline schedules are subject to change, but the overall trajectory appears to be pointing toward a bright future for Spain's tourism industry.
Sources
https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/gobierno/news/paginas/2023/20230929_international-flights.aspx
https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/spains-october-international-flight-capacity-nears-10-5-million-planned-seats/
