HONG KONG—Spanish airport operator Aena is targeting further long-haul connectivity from midsized airports and expansion into Asia as it builds on a record summer for passenger traffic.
Irene Gracia Lacarra, head of Aena’s airline market and international relations division, says recent successes highlight Spain’s growing global reach, from new U.S. routes into secondary cities to increased services from China.
“We are very proud of route announcements at many of our airports, big and small,” she tells Routes. “For Aena, it is equally important to gain a new route to a small airport such as Valladolid–Barcelona operated by Vueling as to a midsized or hub airport.”
Gracia Lacarra points to what she calls “spectacular growth” in Spain–China connectivity, supported by a coordinated push from Aena and government stakeholders. That includes double-daily Madrid–Beijing services by Air China, new Madrid–Shenzhen flights from Hainan Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines’ Barcelona–Shenzhen route and two Barcelona–Shanghai operations by Air China and China Eastern Airlines. China Southern Airlines has also scheduled the launch of Guangzhou–Madrid for December.
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“We feel that we can continue this path with new destinations—Guangzhou, Xi’an, Tianjin—and also more frequencies,” Gracia Lacarra says. “Apart from China, we see a very relevant potential for untapped destinations such as Singapore, India … or growth in existing ones such as Japan or Korea.”
Long-haul routes into midsized Spanish airports have also increased. Malaga, Tenerife, Palma de Mallorca, Bilbao and Valencia have each gained new North America links, while Seville has secured Istanbul flights operated by Pegasus Airlines and Turkish Airlines.
Gracia Lacarra says Aena sees “brilliant opportunities” for new U.S. routes enabled by Airbus A321XLRs, which could support transatlantic services to Seville, Valencia or Ibiza. Air Canada has already picked Palma de Mallorca for its first new A321XLR destination.
Iberia already operates Madrid–Washington and Madrid–Boston using A321XLRs and plans to expand XLR operations to Recife and Fortaleza, Brazil, from mid-December, before adding flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, during the first quarter of 2026.
“Spain is the door to Latin America and our privileged position and connectivity can facilitate this,” Gracia Lacarra adds.
Overall, Aena handled nearly 90 million passengers across its airports between June and August, up 3.3% year on year, making it the busiest summer on record. Airlines have scheduled 2.1% more seats for winter 2025-26 than last year, the operator said.
Gracia Lacarra emphasized that Aena’s airports have capacity to absorb further growth, with major infrastructure projects planned at Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Alicante and across the Canary Islands. “Spain has state-of-the-art infrastructure with capacity to grow,” she says. “All in all, we offer an unbeatable proposal: capacity at competitive prices.”
Still, challenges remain. Ryanair, Spain’s largest airline by capacity, is cutting its regional winter schedule in a dispute over airport charges. In July, Aena’s board approved a 6.62% increase in fees from March 2026, equal to 68 euro cents (79 U.S. cents) per passenger, which it says follows a formula mandated by Spanish regulators.
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