LONDON – Barcelona El Prat in Spain is edging closer to recovery as flight operations continue to increase in intensity over the last couple of months.
Data from RadarBox.com shows that the airport has experienced a 30% increase in flight movements based on a seven-day rolling average.
Without further ado, let’s get into the numbers…
The Numbers…
For this week, the airport has handled 714 movements based on the rolling average, which is a 30.53% increase compared to the same period last year.
The airport is around 111 movements short of achieving pre-pandemic levels, but considering 2021’s numbers, this year’s numbers for that time period are far stronger.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data from the airport:
| Date | 2019 Numbers | 2021 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2022 vs. 2021) |
| October 21-29 | 929 movements | 812 movements | 890 movements | +9.61% |
| October 29-November 5 | 893 movements | 797 movements | 779 movements | -2.26% |
| November 5-12 | 866 movements | 650 movements | 755 movements | +16.15% |
| November 12-19 | 837 movements | 548 movements | 746 movements | +36.13% |
From what we can see from that data is the fact that movements are still at a higher number, and the percentage differences are increasing week-by-week on average.
Bringing An International Presence…
The airport has also been working hard on restoring its international presence, which was severely disrupted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Back in August, Korean Air announced it would launch services in Barcelona, which started on September 2.
This also represents a significant route restart for the airport, which was hugely welcomed on launch day. The airline currently serves the Spanish destination thrice weekly.
The flights depart from Incheon at 11:40 am and arrive in Barcelona at 7:00 pm, and the return flights depart from Barcelona El Prat Airport at 9:00 pm and arrive in Incheon at 4:05 pm the next day.
Airlines are also thinking about periods that are still a while away yet. Last week, leisure carrier Jet2 announced that the airline would serve Barcelona from Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds Bradford in the Summer 2024 program.
From Manchester, it will be up to four weekly flights, with it being twice-weekly from Leeds Bradford Airport and Birmingham, respectively.
With Spanish carrier Vueling also increasing its footprint from out of the airport as well in the Winter, this also means that the airport will be in good stead for movement numbers moving forward.
Overall…
It remains clear that Barcelona El Prat is in a good position currently, with there being plenty of opportunities to consistently exceed pre-pandemic movement numbers.
All eyes will now be on the airport to see how many more services they can get restored or announced over the Winter, with the Summer 2023 season due to being the big test in this.
But for now, the airport can take solace in the fact that they are on the right path and are doing the right things in order to return itself back to normal moving forward.
