Barcelona-El Prat Airport is preparing for a summer season with a significant increase in air activity.
After experiencing a 90% increase in pre-pandemic operations over the past week, the airport is gearing up for months of intense activity.
Announcements about the revival of routes to Asian destinations, such as Beijing, as well as the introduction of new connections, including to China’s technology capital, Shenzhen, have been setting the pace for growth.
According to the latest report from the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce’s Air Traffic Observatory, El Prat Airport will have 46 long-haul routes this summer, just one less than in 2019.
This represents a 98% recovery compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The main destinations will include the United States, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Israel, Qatar and Colombia.
The recovery of Asian connections has been fundamental to this growth, with the incorporation of three weekly frequencies operated by Air China between Barcelona and Beijing as of June 1.
The seven weekly flights to Seoul have also been reinstated. In addition, the new connection to Shenzhen, which will have three direct flights a week, has helped boost the recovery.
However, the reactivation of routes to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Lima is still pending, given their economic importance and passenger volume.
Strategic routes during the summer season
The maintenance of routes to the United States, Canada and Latin America has also contributed to expectations of a good summer season.
The United States will have nearly 588,000 seats, down 19% from 2019, while Canada will offer more than 186,300 seats, up 20% from pre-pandemic.
Seasonal summer destinations in the United States and Canada, such as Philadelphia, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Washington, have been reactivated.
In addition, it was recently announced that United Airlines will launch a new daily route connecting Barcelona and Chicago. Seats to Latin America will also experience growth, with more than 255,400 seats available, 4% more than in 2019.
Level, which became the main operator of long-haul flights at El Prat in April, has added an aircraft for this summer to the Americas.
Recovery of intercontinental connections
Although Barcelona Airport has recovered almost all of its intercontinental connections, frequencies have not yet reached the same levels.
Nearly 19,000 operations have been performed, 8% fewer than before the pandemic, when more than 20,600 were recorded.
The main airlines operating long-haul routes are Iberia, Vueling, American Airlines, Emirates Airlines, United Airlines and Air Canada.
In total, this summer El Prat will offer 18.2 million seats, 10% more than in 2022, but still 9% below 2019 levels.
