Alicante Airport
| Alicante Airport Aeropuerto de Alicante Aeroport d'Alacant |
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| Alicante Airport | |||
| IATA: ALC – ICAO: LEAL | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner/Operator | Aena | ||
| Serves | Alicante - Elche | ||
| Location | El Altet - Torrellano (Elche) | ||
| Hub for | Jet2.com[1] Norwegian[2] Ryanair[3] Vueling[4] |
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| 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 | |||
| Map | |||
 ALC
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| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 10/28 | 3,000 | 9,842 | Asphalt / Concrete |
| Statistics (2012) | |||
| Passengers | 8,855,441 | ||
| Passenger change 11-12 |  -10.7% |
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| Aircraft Movements | 62,468 | ||
| Movements change 11-12 | -17.3% |
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| Sources: Passenger Traffic, AENA;[5] Spanish AIP, AENA[6][7] | |||
Alicante Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto de Alicante, Valencian: Aeroport d'Alacant), (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 Province of Alicante 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 and 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Elche in the municipality of Elche on Mediterranean coast. Up to eighty percent of all passenger flights are international. The largest numbers of passengers arrive from 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. The airport is the fourth largest base for low-cost giant Ryanair with 59 destinations served by the airline. The largest number of passengers is carried by Ryanair (3,152,724 passengers in 2010), followed by EasyJet (1,337,350). Air Berlin (620,671) is the distant third.[5][8]
In March 2011, the New Terminal Area of the airport was opened.[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 now closed.
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History [edit]
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.[10] Iberia established a regular connections Alicante-Madrid and Alicante-Barcelona in November 1969.[11] 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.[10]
The next renovation took place in 1996.[11] A new office building together with operation and business centres were constructed. For the first time, five air bridges were installed to facilitate boarding.[11]
In 2011, the new terminal was opened at the airport increasing the annual airport capacity to 20 million passengers per year.[9] 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.[12]
Historically, up until 2003, Iberia was the leading airline at the airport.[13] With the decline of conventional airlines, in 2004 low-cost EasyJet took the lead.[13] In 2007, Ryanair, the largest European low-cost airline established a base in Alicante.[3] 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.)[14]
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Terminals [edit]
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 [edit]
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.
Terminal 1 [edit]
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.[12]
Terminal 2 [edit]
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, and it was closed on 24 March 2011 together with Terminal 1 after the opening of the new terminal. Terminal 2 is due to reopen but only to private flights, air ambulances and small charter planes.[12]
Airlines and destinations [edit]
Passenger [edit]
Cargo [edit]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| DHL | Vitoria |
Statistics [edit]
In 2012, the number of passengers decreased by 10.7% to 8,855,441. The passenger traffic has increased in every year since 2000, with the exception of 2009 and 2012.
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| Updated: 16 February 2013.[5] 2012 data provisional. |
| 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 | n/a |
| Source: Aena Statistics[5] | |||
