Alicante–Elche Miguel Hernández Airport

Alicante–Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto de Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, Valencian: Aeroport d'Alacant-Elx Miguel Hernández), (IATA: ALC, ICAO: LEAL), is an international airport located about 9 km (5.6 mi) southwest of the city of Alicante and about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) east of the city of Elche in Spain. Alicante–Elche is one of the main airports in south-eastern Spain, serving both the southern part of the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia.

Alicante–Elche
Miguel Hernández Airport[1]

Aeropuerto de Alicante-Elche
Miguel Hernández

Aeroport d'Alacant-Elx
Miguel Hernández
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorAena
ServesAlicante, Elche, Costa Blanca, Murcia and Albacete
LocationElche (Province of Alicante)
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL43 m / 141 ft
Coordinates38°16′56″N 00°33′29″W
Websiteaena.es
Map
ALC is located in Spain
ALC
ALC
Location within Spain
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
10/28 3,000 9,842 Asphalt / Concrete
Statistics (2019)
Passengers15,047,840
Passenger change 18–19Increase7.6%
Aircraft Movements101,408
Movements change 18–19Increase4.8%
Sources: Passenger Traffic, AENA;[2] Spanish AIP, AENA[3][4]

The airport is a base for Air Nostrum, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Ryanair and Vueling. Passenger traffic increased significantly in the 2010s, beating its own yearly record from 2013 to 2019; in 2019 it set a record at 15 million passengers. It is one of the 50 busiest in Europe and was Spain's fifth busiest airport in 2019.[5] Up to 80% of all passenger flights are international.[5] The largest numbers of passengers arrive from the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium and Sweden.[6] Popular domestic destinations are Madrid, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona.

History

Alicante Airport in 1972

El Altet airport opened on 4 May 1967, replacing the older aerodrome La Rabassa that had served Alicante since 1936. It took its name after the El Altet area (a part of Elche's countryside) where it was built. The first commercial flight that landed at the airport was Convair Metropolitan by Aviaco.[7] In November 1969, Iberia established regular connections to Madrid and Barcelona.[8]

Historically, up until 2003, Iberia was the leading airline at the airport.[9] With the decline of conventional airlines, low-cost EasyJet took the lead in 2004.[9] In June 2006, Avianca commenced a weekly flight from Bogotá to Barcelona whose outbound leg included a stop in Alicante. This was the city's first transatlantic service. Avianca flew the route with a Boeing 767.[10][11] In 2008, the airline ended service to Alicante after Spanish authorities granted it permission to operate the flight nonstop in both directions.[12]

In November 2007, Ryanair, the largest European low-cost airline established a base at Alicante.[13] It has since grown to become one of the leading carriers at the airport, and by 2011 it had increased its presence further with eleven based aircraft, 62 routes, and had carried more than 3 million passengers.

In March 2011, Alicante-Elche's current terminal opened, which replaced the previous 2 terminals.[14]

The airport is located within Elche's comarca and so there had been a historical petition from Elche to include the city's name in the official name of the airport. On 12 July 2013, the name of the airport was officially changed from Aeropuerto de Alicante to Aeropuerto de Alicante–Elche[15] with the IATA airport code (ALC) remaining unchanged.

In 2015, the number of passengers increased by 5,1% to 10,574,484. The passenger traffic has increased in every year since 2000, with the exception of 2009, 2012 and 2020. By 2015 the largest number of passengers was carried by Ryanair (2,992,984), followed by EasyJet (1,285,221) and Vueling (1,093,494). Norwegian Air Shuttle (893,319) is the distant fourth.[2][16]

On 23 July 2016, the airport registered its busiest day of operations to date, handling 347 flights—with an average of one flight every 3 minutes—and about 58,000 passengers in a single day.[17]

In 2020, the airport recorded more than 11 million less passengers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

In 2021, the airport was renamed again, this time to Aeropuerto de Alicante–Elche Miguel Hernández, to mark the 110th anniversary of the birth of Spanish poet and playwright Miguel Hernández.[18]

Terminals

Interior of Terminal N

Terminal N is the only terminal currently in public use.

Terminal N

In November 2004, the airport's operator Aena approved plans to construct a new terminal for ALC, as a response to the airport's continuous passenger growth. Construction began in 2005, with an initial planned completion of 2009/10. After more than 5 years of construction, Terminal N (Nueva Área Terminal) officially opened on 23 March 2011. All flight operations were transferred to this terminal on the following day. The first flight to depart from Terminal N was a Ryanair flight to Memmingen. The terminal has an area of 333,500 square metres (3,590,000 sq ft), more than six times the size of the previous 2 terminals and has a capacity of 20 million passengers a year.[14] Terminal N was constructed to the east of terminals 1 and 2 and includes 96 check-in desks, 40 gates, including 15 with airbridges, and 16 baggage claim carousels.[19] The terminal is split into two areas, the processor where the C Gates are held, and the dock where the majority of B Gates are located. Flights within the Schengen Area use both areas of the terminal while flights to non-Schengen destinations only use the dock.

In October 2011, Ryanair terminated 31 routes after airport operator Aena demanded that Ryanair pay over €2 million a year for the use of Terminal N's air bridges, a facility that Ryanair had called "unnecessary" as the airline prefers to use mobile stairways for boarding and disembarking. However, Ryanair have since re-increased their number of routes from the airport.[20][21]

Former terminals

Terminal 1 prior to its closure (2009)

By 1970, the airport was handling close to 1 million passengers, which prompted the construction of a new passenger terminal, the first phase opening in 1972 for international flights and the second phase opening in 1975 for domestic flights.[22] In 1978, passenger numbers exceeded 2 million.[23] In 1980, the runway was extended to three kilometres.[7]

During the 1990s, the terminals were modernised and expanded in order to accommodate the airport's rising passenger numbers. A new control tower and office building, together with operation and business centres, were constructed and five air bridges were installed to facilitate boarding. Car parking capacity was increased, the aircraft apron was expanded and a new runway exit was also constructed.[22]

While construction on Terminal N was underway, Aena approved plans for an extension to the existing terminal, which would act as an auxiliary until the new terminal was complete. The adjacent extension opened in January 2007 and was named Terminal 2 (T2) and the existing terminal was renamed Terminal 1 (T1).[23]

Terminals 1 and 2 have remained closed, yet structurally intact, since 2011. There has since been speculation that they may reopen in the future.[24][25] Terminal 1 (T1) had 39 check-in desks, 11 departure gates (5 with airbridges) and 9 baggage claim carousels, while terminal 2 (T2) had 14 check-in desks, 6 gates (none with airbridges), and 2 baggage claim carousels.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Alicante–Elche Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Aer Lingus Seasonal: Dublin
Air Algérie Seasonal: Algiers
Air Baltic Seasonal: Riga (begins 27 February 2024)[26]
Air Europa Madrid, Palma de Mallorca
Seasonal: Tenerife–North
Air Nostrum Seasonal charter: Porto[27]
British Airways London–Gatwick
Seasonal: Southampton
Brussels Airlines Brussels
Condor Seasonal: Düsseldorf,[28] Frankfurt,[29]
easyJet Amsterdam, Basel/Mulhouse, Belfast–International, Bristol, Edinburgh, Geneva, Glasgow, Liverpool, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, London–Southend (resumes 29 October 2023),[30] Manchester
Seasonal: Birmingham (begins 2 April 2024)[31]
Eurowings Berlin,[32] Düsseldorf
Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn,[33] Dortmund, Hamburg,[33] Prague,[34] Stuttgart
Finnair Helsinki[35]
Helvetic Airways Seasonal: Bern[36]
Iberia Ibiza, Madrid
Seasonal: Gran Canaria, Palma de Mallorca, Nador, Tenerife–North
Icelandair Reykjavík–Keflavík[37]
Jet2.com Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool (begins 30 March 2024),[38] London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
KLM Amsterdam
Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich
Norwegian Air Shuttle[39] Ålesund, Bergen, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Haugesund, Helsinki, Oslo, Sandefjord, Stavanger, Stockholm–Arlanda, Trondheim
Seasonal: Aalborg,[40] Stockholm–Skavsta
Play Reykjavík–Keflavík
Ryanair Beauvais, Belfast–International,[41] Bergamo, Billund, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bremen, Bristol, Budapest (begins 29 October 2023),[42] Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Cork, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Exeter, Gdańsk, Glasgow, Glasgow–Prestwick, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Hahn, Helsinki, Ibiza, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Kaunas, Klagenfurt,[43] Kraków, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, Łódź,[44] London–Gatwick, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Maastricht/Aachen, Manchester, Marrakech, Marseille, Memmingen, Milan–Malpensa, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newquay, Nuremberg, Palma de Mallorca, Pardubice, Porto, Poznań, Sandefjord, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Shannon, Stockholm–Arlanda, Teesside, Tenerife–North, Tétouan, Toulouse, Treviso, Vienna, Vitoria, Warsaw–Chopin,[45] Warsaw–Modlin, Weeze, Wrocław
Seasonal: Aberdeen,[46] Bari, Berlin, Bologna,[47] Bordeaux, Fès,[48] Kerry, Knock, Lanzarote,[49] Lisbon,[50] Menorca, Paderborn/Lippstadt, Rome–Fiumicino, Stockholm–Västerås, Turin,[51] Växjö
Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Oslo, Stockholm–Arlanda
Seasonal: Bergen, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Trondheim
Swiss International Air Lines Zürich
Seasonal: Geneva[52]
TAP Air Portugal Seasonal: Lisbon[53]
Transavia Amsterdam, Brussels,[54] Eindhoven, Rotterdam/The Hague, Paris–Orly
TUI Airways[55] Birmingham, Cardiff, East Midlands, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne
Seasonal: London–Gatwick
TUI fly Belgium Antwerp, Brussels, Liège, Ostend/Bruges
Volotea Asturias, Bilbao
Seasonal: Luxembourg,[56] Lyon, Nantes
Vueling Amsterdam, Asturias, Barcelona, Bilbao, Brussels, Cardiff, Copenhagen, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Palma de Mallorca, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Rome–Fiumicino, Santiago de Compostela, Tenerife–North, Zürich
Seasonal: Ibiza, London–Gatwick,[57] Menorca
Wideroe Bergen[58]
Wizz Air Bucharest–Otopeni, Budapest, Cluj-Napoca, Gdańsk (begins 30 October 2023),[59] Katowice (begins 31 October 2023),[59] Rome–Fiumicino (begins 1 April 2024), Sofia, Warsaw–Chopin

Statistics

Annual traffic

Traffic by calendar year
PassengersAircraft movementsCargo (tonnes)
2000 6,038,26656,4277,745
2001 6,542,12156,5507,923
2002 7,010,32259,2686,548
2003 8,195,45466,5715,848
2004 8,571,14471,3876,036
2005 8,795,70576,1095,193
2006 8,893,72076,8134,931
2007 9,120,63179,7564,533
2008 9,578,30481,0975,982
2009 9,139,60774,2813,199
2010 9,382,93574,4743,112
2011 9,913,76475,5723,011
2012 8,855,76462,4682,527
2013 9,638,83568,3052,589
2014 10,066,06771,5712,637
2015 10,575,28874,0863,587
2016 12,344,94587,1135,461
2017 13,706,51389,5275,040
2018 13,981,32096,7344,013
2019 15,047,840101,4084,032
2020 3,739,49937,1533,519
2021 5,841,18151,5053,984
2022 13,202,88090,1094,641
Source: Aena Statistics[60]

Busiest routes

Busiest international routes from ALC (2022)
Rank Destination Passengers Change 2021 / 22
1 Manchester 722,771 Increase 241%
2 London-Gatwick 579,083 Increase 240%
3 Brussels 442,976 Increase 64%
4 Amsterdam 436,483 Increase 49%
5 Oslo-Gardermoen 411,426 Increase 224%
6 London-Stansted 372,247 Increase 165%
7 Bristol 359,707 Increase 296%
8 Stockholm-Arlanda 352,308 Increase 106%
9 Birmingham 332,987 Increase 257%
10 East Midlands 312,524 Increase 286%
11 Eindhoven 304,889 Increase 78%
12 Leeds-Bradford 274,374 Increase 332%
13 Dublin 267,878 Increase 173%
14 Newcastle upon Tyne 242,230 Increase 259%
15 London-Luton 241,726 Increase 185%
16 Copenhagen 238,677 Increase 65%
17 Glasgow 235,084 Increase 377%
18 Brussels-Charleroi 227,707 Increase 67%
19 Edinburgh 210,872 Increase 375%
20 Paris-Charles de Gaulle 196,246 Increase 1735%
Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo[61]
Busiest Spanish routes from ALC (2022)
Rank Destination Passengers Change 2021 / 22
1 Palma de Mallorca 389,734 Increase 95%
2 Barcelona 364,913 Increase 111%
3 Madrid 280,302 Increase 94%
4 Bilbao 188,276 Increase 75%
5 Santiago de Compostela 170,041 Increase 131%
6 Ibiza 116,282 Increase 66%
7 Asturias 107,236 Increase 119%
8 Tenerife-North 103,398 Increase 61%
9 Seville 55,124 Increase 482%
10 Gran Canaria 45,983 Increase 108%
Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo[61]

Ground transport

Alicante airport is accessible by buses, taxis, and private cars on automobile road N-338. New car parking was opened in 2011 together with the new terminal. employs a modern sensor system with displays.

The new terminal of the airport was built with space allocated for a railway station and an Alicante Tram stop. In 2019, the Generalitat Valenciana granted €50,000 towards a feasibility study in connecting Alicante Airport to the rail network. [62] The same year, the Ministry of Development put out to tender the contract to build the airport rail link to form part of the Cercanías Murcia/Alicante commuter rail network.[63]

Bus station

Alicante airport has one bus stop for all the bus lines operating at the airport. The airport is connected with the city of Alicante by the C6 bus line.[64] There are also hourly bus services to Benidorm and Torrevieja.

Accidents and incidents

  • In September 2013 a baby died at the airport shortly after arriving with relatives on a flight from London after the child's mother placed the baby in a carrier onto a conveyor belt used for bulky luggage items. The belt activated due to having detected the carrier's weight, and the baby became tangled in the machine's rollers.[65]
  • On April 10, 2017, a Jet2 Boeing 757-200 suffered a tailstrike during landing, damaging the area around the lower tail. The Spanish Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission determined the copilot, who was flying, left the nose too high during the landing and the captain failed to intervene. The copilot, who was on his final day of training after working for Jet2 for two years, reported to investigators he felt stressed due to pressure from Jet2 and was sleeping poorly. Jet2 fired the copilot following the accident.[66]
  • In January 2020 a fire in the international terminal's roof caused a 24-hour closure of the airport, with the diversion of 160 flights.[67]

See also

References

  1. "Alicante-Elche airport to be named after iconic poet Miguel Hernández, victim of Franco's régime". thinkSPAIN. 7 November 2020.
  2. "Estadsticas – Aeropuertos Espaoles y Navegacin Area – aena-aeropuertos.es". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. "Spanish AIP (AENA)". Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  4. http://www.aena.es/csee/ccurl/74/661/anual-provisional-2012.pdf
  5. Antonio Martín (3 February 2018). "El Altet, de escala del correo francés a África al quinto aeropuerto español en 50 años". El Mundo. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  6. Alicante Plaza (11 January 2017). "El Altet cierra 2016 con 12.344.945, su récord histórico" (in Spanish). Alicante Plaza. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  7. "Alicante Airport". www.airports-worldwide.com. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  8. "History – Alicante-Elche Airport – Aena". Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  9. New terminal should help Alicante pass 10 million mark this summer; Ryanair now accounts for one-third of traffic anna.aero, Airport Analysis, 23 March 2011
  10. Moltó, Ezequiel (16 June 2006). "La policía retiene a 11 colombianos sin visado en el primer vuelo transoceánico de L'Altet". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  11. "Avianca se alista para Barcelona". Portafolio (in Spanish). 7 June 2006. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  12. "El Altet pierde el vuelo directo que operaba Avianca con Bogotá". Información (in Spanish). 29 May 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  13. Ryanair announces 21st base in Alicante, Spain Archived 12 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine Ryanair News Release, 09.08.07
  14. "New terminal opens at Alicante Airport". Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  15. "III. Otras Disposiciones - Ministerio de Fomento" (PDF). Boletin Oficial del Estado. 12 July 2013.
  16. "Introduction – Alicante-Elche Airport – Aena". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  17. Paco Escribano (25 July 2016). "Jornada histórica en el aeropuerto de Alicante-Elche con un vuelo cada 3 minutos" (in Spanish). INFORMACIÓN. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  18. "ARCHIVED - Alicante-Elche Airport officially changes its name".
  19. Alicante Airport New Terminal, AENA Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine The airport in figures.
  20. "Ryanair to Make Drastic Cuts at Alicante". Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  21. "Ryanair launches summer calendar in Alicante with 74 routes". Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  22. "History". Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  23. "Cronología del aeropuerto de Alicante-Elche hasta el 50 aniversario". 2 February 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  24. Old Alicante Airport Terminals to Reopen Archived 9 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine by Mark Nolan, The Leader Newspaper, 2011-12-09
  25. "El Altet encarga a Quarto Proyectos convertir la terminal sin uso en la nueva sede de Jet2". Alicanteplaza.
  26. "Air Baltic website".
  27. "AIR NOSTRUM NS23 PORTUGAL SCHEDULED CHARTER SERVICE ADDITIONS".
  28. "Sommer 2023: Condor plant einige neue Ferienstrecken ab Deutschland". 27 May 2022.
  29. Sena, Gastón (22 April 2022). "Condor will have flights to Alicante and Faro". Aviacionline. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  30. https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/23738365.southend-airport-easyjet-flights-alicante-announced/
  31. Davies, Phil (29 June 2023). "Agents gain early access to packages as EasyJet adds 15 Birmingham routes". Travel Weekly.
  32. "New Routes and Destinations". 6 December 2022.
  33. "Eurowings flies to more destinations in summer 2022 than ever before".
  34. "Eurowings expands in Prague with new summer destinations for 2022". 2 November 2021.
  35. Finnair adds frequencies to Japan and Europe for the upcoming winter season company.finnair.com 14 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018
  36. "Summer 2023 schedule - Bern Airport".
  37. Casey, David (13 January 2022). "Icelandair Unveils 'Ambitious' Summer Schedule With Three New Routes". Routesonline. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  38. "Jet2 unveils 11th base at Liverpool John Lennon Airport".
  39. "Route map". norwegian.com.
  40. "Aalborg Lufthavn sender nordjyder til Barcelona igen".
  41. "Third Time Lucky? Ryanair Announces Belfast Base with 12 Routes". 7 July 2022.
  42. "Ryanair". www.ryanair.com.
  43. "Klagenfurt: Ryanair adds Alicante and Palma de Mallorca". aviation.direct (in German). 17 November 2022.
  44. "Wyborcza.pl".
  45. "Ryanair potwierdza: Wracamy na Lotnisko Chopina. Na początek pięć kierunków". Rzeczpospolita.
  46. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230918-frnw23
  47. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230918-frnw23
  48. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230918-frnw23
  49. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230918-frnw23
  50. "Rayanir website". Ryanair.com.
  51. "Ryanair anuncia una nueva ruta entre Alicante y Turín".
  52. "Swiss expands Geneva European network from June 2019". Routesonline.
  53. "TAP Air Portugal Suspends Alicante Service in NW23". AeroRoutes. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  54. "Transavia vliegt komende zomer vanaf Brussels Airport - Travelpro". 21 December 2021.
  55. "Flight Timetable". www.tui.co.uk.
  56. "Volotea de Madrid a Toulouse y Faro | Fly News". 30 October 2019.
  57. "Vueling adds new London-Alicante service to summer schedule".
  58. "Media | Widerøe".
  59. "Вісім нових рейсів Wizz Air із чотирьох аеропортів Польщі".
  60. "Inicio". www.aena.es. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  61. "Inicio". www.aena.es. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  62. "Los accesos a El Altet, la variante de Benissa y unir la A-31 con la A-35, las inversiones de Fomento en 2019". Alicante Plaza (in Spanish). 14 January 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  63. "Contract for first phase of Murcia-Alicante Airport rail link put out to tender". Murcia Today. 28 August 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  64. "Bus Travel to and from Alicante Airport". Alicante Airport Website. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  65. Williams, Rob (20 September 2013). "Five-month-old baby boy killed in freak accident on Spanish airport conveyor belt". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  66. Gildea, Samantha (7 November 2018). "'Stressed' Jet2 copilot was sacked after botched Alicante landing, report reveals". LeedsLive. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  67. "30,000 PASSENGERS AFFECTED BY ALICANTE-ELCHE AIRPORT FIRE". English Radio News. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2021.

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