The Canary Islands experienced a significant increase in airport traffic in June this year, with a total of 4,002,858 passengers, a 10.7% increase compared to the same month in 2023. Of these, 3,986,030 were on commercial flights with 1,860,752 on domestic routes (+11.8%) while 2,125,278 travelled on international flights (+10.4%).
The number of flights in and out of those airports also increased, with 36,212 operations handled in June, reflecting an 8.9% increase compared to June 2023. Additionally, cargo transport rose by 9.2%, with 2,550 tonnes of goods being transported.
Gran Canaria Airport: The busiest in June, with 1,105,199 passengers, up by 11.8% from last year.
Tenerife South Airport: Recorded 984,673 passengers, a 12.9% increase.
Lanzarote Airport: Saw 688,846 passengers, up by 4.9%.
Tenerife North Airport: Had 578,904 passengers, a 12% increase.
Fuerteventura Airport: Registered 490,515 passengers, up by 9.5%.
La Palma Airport: Had 118,268 passengers, the highest percentage growth at 16.8%.
El Hierro Airport: Had 26,500 passengers, a 15% increase.
La Gomera Airport: Recorded 9,953 passengers, a 15.9% rise.
From January to June, Canary Islands airports handled 25,798,128 passengers, a 10% increase over the same period in 2023. Of these, 25,622,011 were commercial passengers, with 10,176,665 on domestic flights (a 9.3% rise) and 15,445,346 on international flights (an 11.2% increase).
In the first half of 2024, there were 228,755 aircraft movements, up by 8.7% from the same period in 2023. Cargo transport during this period totalled 16,269 tonnes, an 8.9% increase.
However, these increases in passenger numbers are also bringing their own problems. We are receiving more and more emails from disgruntled travellers who are complaining about the time it is taking to get through passport control, the lack of taxis, and packed buses from the aircraft to the terminal, and of course problems during the flight itself with disruptive passengers.
Maybe there is a point, which we seem to be reaching, where the numbers need to level out or decrease so that the rest of the infrastructure can cope with this number of people visiting the islands.
