Alicante–Elche Airport

Alicante–Elche Airport Aeropuerto de Alicante-Elche Aeroport d'Alacant-Elx
IATA: ALC – ICAO: LEAL
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	ENAIRE
Serves	Alicante, Elche, Benidorm, Murcia and Albacete
Location	Elche
Hub for	Air Nostrum Evelop Airlines[1] (winter) Jet2.com Norwegian Air Shuttle Ryanair Vueling
Elevation AMSL	43 m / 141 ft
Coordinates	38°16′56″N 00°33′29″W / 38.28222°N 0.55806°WCoordinates: 38°16′56″N 00°33′29″W / 38.28222°N 0.55806°W
Website	aena-aeropuertos.es
Map
ALC Location within Spain
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 10/28 3,000 9,842 Asphalt / Concrete
Statistics (2016)
Passengers 2,040,684 Passenger change 15–16 22.1% Aircraft Movements 15.017 Movements change 15–15 21.7%
Sources: Passenger Traffic, AENA;[2] Spanish AIP, AENA[3][4]

Alicante–Elche Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto de Alicante-Elche, Valencian: Aeroport d'Alacant-Elx), (IATA: ALC, ICAO: LEAL), originally named El Altet, is the sixth busiest airport in Spain based on passenger numbers, and the main airport for the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia. The airport is situated 9 km (5.6 mi) southwest of Alicante, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Valencia, about 70 km (43 mi) north of Murcia and 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Elche in the municipality of Elche on Mediterranean coast. The airport is a base for Air Nostrum, Evelop Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Ryanair and Vueling.

Up to eighty percent of all passenger flights are international. The largest numbers of passengers arrive from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands. Popular domestic destinations are Madrid, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona. Both international and domestic passenger traffic have increased significantly in the last decade. In 2011, Alicante Airport handled 9,913,764 passengers, 75,572 flight operations and 3,011 tonnes of cargo, making it the busiest airport in the Valencian Community by passenger numbers, and one of the 50 busiest in Europe. By 2015 the airport was beating its yearly record, handling 10,574,484 passengers.^[5] The largest number of passengers is 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" four.^[2][6]

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 in the airport was Convair Metropolitan by Aviaco.^[7] Iberia established a regular connections Alicante–Madrid and Alicante–Barcelona in November 1969.^[8] In early 1970s passengers' traffic reached 1 million, which prompted a construction of a new passenger terminal. In 1980 the runway was extended to three kilometres.^[7]

The next renovation took place in 1996.^[8] A new office building together with operation and business centres were constructed. For the first time, five air bridges were installed to facilitate boarding.^[8]

In 2011, the new terminal was opened at the airport increasing the annual airport capacity to 20 million passengers per year.^[9] All flights arrive and depart from this new terminal. Terminals 1 and 2, which were in service before the opening of the new terminal, are currently closed. Works however will not be completed until 2014, as plans are to construct a connecting hallway between the new terminal and terminals 1 and 2 that will allow to exploit the passenger space of all terminals.^[10]

Historically, up until 2003, Iberia was the leading airline at the airport.^[11] With the decline of conventional airlines, in 2004 low-cost EasyJet took the lead.^[11] In 2007, Ryanair, the largest European low-cost airline established a base in Alicante.^[12] It has become the leading carrier at the airport in 2009, and by 2011 it has increased its presence further with eleven aircraft based, 62 routes, and more than 3 million passengers. However, from the end of October 2011, Ryanair has cut 31 routes due to disagreement with AENA on the usage of air bridges at the new terminal (before, they would always unload on the tarmac because it is cheaper but the owners of the airport want all planes to use the air bridges in the new building and not unload on the tarmac).^[13]

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. This was implemented in July 2013 when the name of the airport was officially changed from "Alicante Airport" to "Alicante–Elche Airport"^[14] with the IATA airport code remaining unchanged, ALC.

Terminals

Interior of the new terminal

The New Terminal is the only terminal currently in service. Terminals 1 and 2 have been closed since the opening of the new terminal.

New Terminal

The new terminal (denoted as Terminal N) was officially opened on 23 March 2011. All flight operations at the airport were moved to this terminal on the following day. The first flight that used the terminal was a Ryanair flight to Memmingen. The terminal has an area of 333,500 m², which is more than six times the size of terminals 1 and 2 together. It includes 96 check-in desks, 40 gates, including 15 with airbridges, and 16 baggage reclaim carousels.^[15] 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. This terminal was constructed to the east of Terminal 1.

Former Terminal 1

Terminal 1 (styled as T1) had 38 check-in desks numbered 1–38, along with one for special baggage which is desk number 39. It included 11 gates of which five have airbridges, which are the odd numbered gates, and nine baggage reclaim carousels. It was closed after the opening of the new terminal on 24 March 2011. There are plans to reopen Terminal 1 following the construction of a connecting hallway with the new terminal.^[10]

Former Terminal 2

Terminal 2 (styled as T2) had 14 check-in desks numbered 51–64, 6 gates (none with airbridges), and two baggage reclaim carousels. This terminal is adjacent to Terminal 1. The terminal was opened in January 2007. Prior to the opening of the new terminal whilst it was still active it was the smaller of the two terminals. Once the new terminal had opened on 24 March 2011, it was closed together with Terminal 1. Terminal 2 is due to reopen but only to private flights, air ambulances and small charter planes. No date for this has currently been set.^[10]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations	Pier (Dock/Processor)
Aeroflot	Moscow–Sheremetyevo (begins 1 June 2016)[16][17]	D
Aer Lingus	Dublin Seasonal: Belfast-City,[18] Cork	D
Air Algérie	Algiers, Oran	D
Air Berlin	Berlin–Tegel, Düsseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart, Zürich	D, P
Air Europa	Asturias, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife–North, Tenerife–South Seasonal: Barcelona, Bilbao, Ibiza, Menorca, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Vigo (begins 9 July 2016)	D, P
Atlantic Airways	Seasonal charter: Vágar[19]	D
Belavia	Seasonal: Minsk	D
British Airways	London–Gatwick	D
British Airways operated by BA Cityflyer	Seasonal: London City (begins 27 June 2016) Seasonal charter: Edinburgh, Glasgow	D
Brussels Airlines	Brussels	D, P
Bulgaria Air	Seasonal: Sofia	D, P
easyJet	Belfast–International, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, London–Southend, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne	D
easyJet	Hamburg, Milan–Malpensa (begins 11 June 2016)	D, P
easyJet Switzerland	Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva	D, P
Eurowings	Düsseldorf, Vienna	D, P
Evelop Airlines	Seasonal: Asturias, Bilbao, Girona, Gran Canaria, Málaga, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tenerife–North, Tenerife–South, Valladolid, Vigo	D, P
Flybe	Doncaster/Sheffield, Exeter, Norwich, Southampton	D
Iberia operated by Air Nostrum	Bilbao, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca Seasonal: Carcassonne, León, Menorca, Tenerife–North, Vigo (begins 5 July 2016)	D, P
Jet2.com	Belfast–International, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne Seasonal: Glasgow	D, P
Jetairfly	Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Liège, Ostend/Bruges	D, P
jetXtra.com operated by BA CityFlyer	Seasonal charter: Humberside	D
KLM	Amsterdam (begins 2 July 2016)[20]	D, P
Lufthansa	Frankfurt	D, P
Monarch Airlines	Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, London–Gatwick, London–Luton, Manchester	D, P
Neos	Seasonal charter: Tel Aviv (begins 23 June 2016)[21]	D, P
Niki	Seasonal: Vienna	D, P
Norwegian Air Shuttle	London–Gatwick, Manchester (begins 3 June 2016)	D
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Aalborg, Bergen, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Helsinki, Munich, Moss/Rygge, Oslo, Sandefjord, Stavanger, Stockholm–Arlanda, Tromsø, Trondheim Seasonal: Ålesund, Billund, Harstad/Narvik, Karlstad, Molde, Turku, Umeå	D, P
Primera Air	Seasonal: Reykjavík–Keflavík	D, P
Ryanair	Belfast–International (begins 2 September 2016), Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow (begins 30 October 2016), Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, London–Gatwick (begins 31 October 2016), London–Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newquay, Prestwick Seasonal: Cork, Kerry, Knock, Shannon	D
Ryanair[22]	Baden-Baden/Karlsruhe, Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin–Schönefeld, Bremen, Brussels, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn,[23] Copenhagen, Eindhoven, Gothenburg, Hahn, Hamburg, Kraków, Maastricht/Aachen, Memmingen, Moss/Rygge, Poznań (begins 3 November 2016), Rome–Ciampino, Rome–Fiumicino, Santiago de Compostela, Stockholm–Skavsta, Warsaw–Modlin, Weeze Seasonal: Billund, Bologna, Gdańsk, Haugesund, Katowice, Kaunas, Nuremberg, Sandefjord, Tampere,[24] Västerås, Växjö, Wrocław	D, P
S7 Airlines	Moscow–Domodedovo	D
Scandinavian Airlines	Oslo, Stavanger, Stockholm–Arlanda Seasonal: Bergen, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Kristiansand, Trondheim	D, P
Swiss International Air Lines	Seasonal: Zürich[25]	D, P
TAROM	Seasonal: Bucharest (begins 4 June 2016)[26]	D
Thomas Cook Airlines	Glasgow (resumes 2 May 2017), Manchester (resumes 22 May 2016)[27] Seasonal: London-Stansted (begins 21 July 2017)	D
Thomson Airways	Birmingham, Cardiff, Doncaster/Sheffield, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London–Gatwick, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne Seasonal: Bristol	D
TUI Airlines Netherlands	Charter: Amsterdam	D, P
Transavia	Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Munich (begins 31 May 2016), Rotterdam	D, P
Travel Service	Seasonal charter: Katowice, Warsaw–Chopin, Wrocław (begins 8 June 2016)	D
Ukraine International Airlines	Seasonal: Ivano-Frankivsk (begins 27 June 2016)[28] Charter: Kiev–Boryspil[29]	D
VIM Airlines	Seasonal: Moscow–Domodedovo	D
Volotea	Asturias Seasonal: Bordeaux, Nantes, Venice	D, P
Vueling	Birmingham (begins 17 June 2016), Cardiff, Edinburgh (begins 16 June 2016), Manchester (begins 17 June 2016), Moscow–Domodedovo Seasonal: Saint Petersburg	D
Vueling	Algiers, Amsterdam, Asturias, Barcelona, Bilbao, Brussels, Copenhagen, Milan–Malpensa (begins 17 June 2016), Nantes (begins 9 April 2016),[30] Oran, Palma de Mallorca, Paris–Orly, Rome–Fiumicino, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tenerife–North, Zürich (begins 16 June 2016) Seasonal: Ibiza, Menorca, Santander, Tenerife-South (begins 5 June 2016),[31] Turin	D, P
Windrose Airlines	Seasonal: Kiev-Boryspil[32]	D
Wizz Air	Bucharest, Budapest, Cluj-Napoca (begins 24 July 2016), Sofia Seasonal: Warsaw–Chopin	D, P
WOW air	Reykjavík–Keflavík	D, P

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
DHL Aviation	Tangier, Vitoria

Statistics

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 and 2012.

Alicante Airport Passenger Totals 2000–2015 (millions)

Updated: 22 February 2015. 2015 data provisional.[2]

	Passengers	Aircraft movements	Cargo (tonnes)
2000	6,038,266	56,427	7,745
2001	6,542,121	56,550	7,923
2002	7,010,322	59,268	6,548
2003	8,195,454	66,571	5,848
2004	8,571,144	71,387	6,036
2005	8,795,705	76,109	5,193
2006	8,893,720	76,813	4,931
2007	9,120,631	79,756	4,533
2008	9,578,304	81,097	5,982
2009	9,139,607	74,281	3,199
2010	9,382,935	74,474	3,112
2011	9,913,764	75,572	3,011
2012	8,855,764	62,468	2,527
2013	9,638,860	68,303	2,589
2014	10,065,873	71,570	2,637
2015	10,574,484	74,084	3,587
2016*	2,040,684	15,017	1,332
Source: Aena Statistics[2]

Busiest Routes from Alicante–Elche Airport, January–December 2015

Rank	Country	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	London–Gatwick, United Kingdom	773,749	British Airways, easyJet, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Monarch, Thomson Airways
2	Manchester, United Kingdom	636,045	easyJet, Jet2, Monarch, Ryanair, Thomson Airways
3	East Midlands, United Kingdom	382,712	Jet2, Monarch, Ryanair, Thomson Airways
4	Barcelona, Spain	330,691	Vueling
5	Brussels, Belgium	312,109	Brussels Airlines, Jetairfly, Ryanair, Vueling
6	Birmingham, United Kingdom	305,057	Monarch, Ryanair, Thomson Airways
7	Amsterdam, Netherlands	285,829	Vueling, Transavia
8	Leeds, United Kingdom	276,919	Jet2, Monarch, Ryanair
9	Mallorca, Spain	274,805	Air Berlin, Air Europa, Vueling
10	Bristol, United Kingdom	272,345	easyJet, Ryanair, Thomson Airways
11	Madrid, Spain	268,659	Air Europa, Air Nostrum
12	Oslo, Norway	268,314	Norwegian Air Shuttle, SAS
13	Newcastle, United Kingdom	236,315	easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, Thomson Airways
14	London–Stansted, United Kingdom	225,621	Ryanair
15	Liverpool, United Kingdom	216,380	easyJet, Ryanair
16	Luton, United Kingdom	215,453	easyJet, Monarch

Busiest Countries from Alicante–Elche Airport, January–December 2015

Rank	Countries	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	United Kingdom	4,420,453	British Airways, EasyJet, Flybe, Jet2, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Monarch, Ryanair, Thomson Airways, Vueling
2	Spain	1,270,430	Air Berlin, Air Europa, Air Nostrum, Evelop, Ryanair, Vueling
3	Germany	742,024	Air Berlin, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Ryanair
4	Norway	660,753	Norwegian Air Shuttle, Ryanair, SAS
5	Netherlands	637,573	Ryanair, Vueling, Transavia
6	Belgium	538,746	Brussels Airlines, Jetairfly, Ryanair, Vueling
7	Sweden	405,175	Norwegian Air Shuttle, Ryanair, SAS
8	Ireland	272,026	Aer Lingus, Ryanair
9	Switzerland	235,512	Air Berlin
10	France	227,990	Ryanair, Vueling
11	Denmark	210,864	Norwegian Air Shuttle, Ryanair, SAS, Vueling
12	Algeria	203,370	Air Algérie, Vueling
13	Italy	194,687	easyJet, Ryanair, Vueling
14	Russia	169,905	S7, Transaero, Vueling
15	Poland	148,942	Ryanair, Travel Service, Wizzair
16	Finland	102,839	Norwegian Air Shuttle, Ryanair

Top 16 Airlines in Alicante–Elche Airport during 2015

Rank	Airline	Passengers
1	Ryanair (base)	2,992,984
2	easyJet & easyJet Switzerland	1,483,707
3	Vueling (base)	1,093,494
4	Norwegian Air Shuttle & Norwegian Air International (base)	893,319
5	Monarch	648,141
6	Jet2 (base)	634,163
7	Transavia	416,063
8	Air Berlin	384,478
9	Thomson	310,656
10	Air Nostrum (base)	276,849
11	Jetairfly	255,931
12	SAS	234,576
13	Air Europa	207,842
14	Air Algérie	161,990
15	British Airways	128,212
16	S7 Airlines	107,383

Ground transport

Alicante airport is accessible by buses, taxis, and private cars on automobile road N-338. In the future, it is envisaged that it will be reached by trains and trams. A space in the basement of the new terminal is reserved for construction of stations for both modes. New car parking was opened in 2011 together with the new terminal. It employs a modern sensor system with displays.

See also

• Transport in Spain
• ENAIRE

References

1. "Evelop opens a new winter-base in Alicante-Elche" (Press release). Foroblog of Alicante-Elche Airport. 13 October 2015.
2. "Estadsticas - Aeropuertos Espaoles y Navegacin Area - aena-aeropuertos.es". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
3. Spanish AIP (AENA)
4. http://www.aena.es/csee/ccurl/74/661/anual-provisional-2012.pdf
5. INFORMACION (29 December 2014). "El aeropuerto de Alicante-Elche prevé cerrar el año con una cifra de 10.050.000 pasajeros". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
6. "Introduction - Alicante-Elche Airport - Aena". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
7. Alicante Airport airports-worldwide.com
8. "History - Alicante-Elche Airport - Aena". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
9. Alicante Airport New Terminal
10. Old Alicante Airport Terminals to Reopen by Mark Nolan, The Leader Newspaper, 2011-12-09
11. 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
12. Ryanair announces 21st base in Alicante, Spain Ryanair News Release, 09.08.07
13. Ryanair suprime 31 rutas en el aeropuerto de El Altet Las Provincias, 26.10.11
15. Alicante Airport New Terminal, AENA The airport in figures.
16. "Aeroflot announces a new route: Alicante-Elche - Moscow Sheremetyevo" (Press release). Foroblog of Alicante-Elche Airport. 25 February 2016.
17. http://airlineroute.net/2016/02/25/su-alc-jun16/
18. http://www.u.tv/News/2015/10/08/Aer-Lingus-announces-new-Belfast-to-Alicante-route-46529
19. "Atlantic Airways announces a new charter route: Alicante-Elche - Vágar" (Press release). Foroblog of Alicante-Elche Airport. 6 February 2016.
20. "KLM announces a new route: Alicante-Elche - Amsterdam" (Press release). Foroblog of Alicante-Elche Airport. 8 March 2016.
21. "Neos Air announces a new route: Alicante-Elche - Tel Aviv" (Press release). Foroblog of Alicante-Elche Airport. 19 February 2016.
22. http://www.ryanair.com
23. "Ryanair Präsentiert Den Kölner Sommerflugplan 2015" (in German). Retrieved 23 September 2014.
24. "Ryanair cans Tampere winter routes". Yle Uutiset. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
25. "SWISS Adds Zurich - Alicante Route in S16". Airlineroute.net. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
26. http://airlineroute.net/2015/12/17/ro-alc-s16/
27. http://airlineroute.net/2015/12/08/mt-manalc-may16/
28. "Ukraine International Adds Ivano-Frankivsk – Spain Routes in S16". airlineroute. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
29. "UIA extends ALC-KBP in W15" (Press release). 4 September 2015.
30. http://airlineroute.net/2015/11/18/vy-alcnte-s16/
31. http://airlineroute.net/2016/03/14/vy-tfs-s16/
32. http://airlineroute.net/2016/03/16/7w-s16/

External links

Media related to Alicante Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (English) (Spanish)
• Current weather for LEAL at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for ALC at Aviation Safety Network