Alicante–Elche Miguel Hernández Airport isn’t slowing down, quite the opposite.
These days, nine out of every ten flights are international.
The numbers are eye‑watering. In June alone, more than 1.9 million people passed through the terminal. Of those, 1.7 million were off abroad. Homegrown travel, meanwhile, barely managed 230,000 passengers.
The airport now connects to 30 countries, from the UK, Germany and France, to Iceland, Moldova and even the Faroe Islands.
And the list is still growing. This winter’s new routes include Aberdeen, Belgrade, Cardiff and Lanzarote. And soon you will be able to jet directly to places like Athens, Naples and Guernsey.
Luxair is expanding at Alicante-Elche airport and is set to start flying to Luxembourg from April 2026.
The growth spurt isn’t just a blip. Compared with June last year, traffic is up 8.4%. In the first half of 2025, 9.2 million passengers went through the airport, a 10.3% jump. If the pace keeps up, the year‑end figure could top 20 million passengers, which is about as many as the terminal can handle without bursting at the seams.
It’s not just passengers going up. Take‑offs and landings hit 11,700 in June, 7% more than last year. The airport is now one of Spain’s ten busiest.
But all this success comes with a headache: space. The terminal is already feeling the squeeze, and both the regional government and local business leaders say it’s time to expand. Talk of a second runway is back on the table, though at the moment it’s still more idea than blueprint.
“The growth has been fuelled by international tourism, but we’ll need proper infrastructure to keep up,” the Alicante Chamber of Commerce warns.
Aena, the operator, admits the airport’s under pressure, but says any expansion must go through the proper process, which, in bureaucratic terms, means don’t hold your breath!
