Alicante airport welcomes more than two million passengers in October as British travel surges

A record-breaking year could be on the cards for Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport, after more than two million passengers passed through its terminal in October alone.

The latest figures, released by airport operator Aena on Thursday, November 12, show that 2,095,402 travellers used the Costa Blanca airport during the month. This represents a 10.1 per cent increase compared with October 2025, underlining the continued popularity of the region among international visitors.

The growth also puts the airport within touching distance of another major milestone, with almost 19 million passengers recorded during the first ten months of 2026.

British holidaymakers lead the way

International travel continues to dominate activity at Alicante-Elche, accounting for the overwhelming majority of passenger traffic.

A total of 1,868,319 international passengers travelled through the airport in October, an increase of 11 per cent compared with the same month last year.

British travellers were by far the largest international group, with more than 670,000 passengers flying to or from the UK during October.

Germany followed with approximately 148,000 travellers, while the Netherlands contributed around 125,000 and Poland close to 118,000.

Domestic travel also experienced growth, although on a smaller scale. Spanish routes accounted for 223,429 passengers, representing a 2.9 per cent annual increase.

Almost 19 million passengers in 2026

The October figures form part of an exceptionally busy year for the Costa Blanca gateway.

Between January and October, Alicante-Elche handled 18,962,457 passengers, up 10.1 per cent on the corresponding period in 2025.

The increase has also been reflected in the number of flights operating from the airport. October saw 13,172 aircraft movements, including arrivals and departures, representing a 10.4 per cent rise year on year.

Across the first ten months of 2026, the airport recorded 118,646 movements, also up 10.4 per cent.

Alicante among Spain’s busiest airports

Alicante-Elche was one of the country’s strongest-performing major airports in October.

Its 10.1 per cent passenger increase comfortably exceeded the 3.5 per cent growth recorded across Aena’s Spanish airport network, which handled more than 30.5 million travellers during the month.

Only Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona-El Prat, Palma de Mallorca and Malaga-Costa del Sol handled more passengers than Alicante-Elche in October.

With November and December still to come, the latest figures suggest the Costa Blanca airport is heading towards another exceptionally busy year.