With just over a month of the low season remaining, airlines are already rolling out their peak summer schedules at Alicante–Elche Airport, covering the period from late March to the end of October 2026.
Several carriers have announced increased flight frequencies and new international routes, including long-haul-style connections to destinations such as Yerevan in Armenia and Casablanca in Morocco.
Overall capacity is expected to continue growing strongly, with more than 10 million one-way seats already scheduled between January and October 2026.
However, not all airlines are expanding.
Ryanair drops four summer routes
Ryanair has confirmed it will not operate four routes that were available during last summer season.
One of the most notable cancellations is the Tenerife North connection, which the airline has partially withdrawn as part of its ongoing dispute with Aena over airport fees at regional terminals. The route will instead be operated this summer by Vueling.
Ryanair has also removed its domestic link to Barcelona, which last year ran four times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
In addition, two international seasonal routes have disappeared from the airline’s schedule:
- Maastricht (Netherlands)
- Klagenfurt (Austria)
Both connections were operated only during the summer months and are no longer available for 2026.
Alicante-Elche Airport: Foreign markets
The decision is particularly striking in the case of the Netherlands, which remains one of Alicante’s strongest foreign markets after the UK and Germany. Meanwhile, Ryanair’s Austrian routes to Linz and Salzburg proved popular enough last year to be extended into the winter season.
Despite launching new connections to Germany and continuing the Bratislava service introduced during the low season, Ryanair will operate one fewer route this summer than in 2025. The airline will still offer 89 direct routes across 21 countries, supported by higher frequencies on its busiest UK and Central European services.
Strong growth in overall capacity
According to figures from HOSBEC, scheduled air capacity between January and October 2026 has risen sharply. The rise from 9.43 million seats in 2025 to almost 10.3 million this year is an increase of 8.8%.
July remains the busiest month, with more than 1.2 million arrival seats already programmed.
Alicante’s dominant market
By country of origin, the United Kingdom continues to dominate traffic at Alicante Airport, accounting for around one in every three seats.
The breakdown of scheduled capacity shows:
- United Kingdom: around 33%
- Spain: 12%
- Netherlands: almost 6%
- Germany: almost 6%
- Belgium and Poland: around 5% each
- Norway and France: just over 4% each
