Alicante-Elche Airport is preparing for a record-breaking winter season but many airlines are already turning their attention to the upcoming summer season.
This is certainly the case for the Lufthansa Group. The airline conglomerate has announced a large number of new intercontinental routes, additional European destinations, and increased flight frequencies.
Six routes to Germany will continue to operate – Stuttgart, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, and Cologne – with almost the same schedule as last season. The airline will also fly to Prague in the Czech Republic, Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland, and Brussels in Belgium.
Alicante-Elche Airport: Brussels route
The Brussels route is where the group has made its most significant improvements for next summer. Belgium is Alicante-Elche Airport’s fifth largest international market, with 761,258 passengers so far in 2025, up 6.4 per cent on 2024.
According to Aena, Brussels Airport handles more than half of all passengers travelling to and from Alicante.
It is therefore no surprise that Brussels Airlines, part of the Lufthansa Group, has increased its flights for summer 2026, rising from nine to 14 weekly services. In a press release, the airline noted that it has “increased capacity on existing European routes, particularly in Spain.” For Alicante Airport, that means five extra weekly flights, the largest increase within the German conglomerate.
Smaller route changes
Other destinations will see smaller changes. Frequencies to Prague remain the same, while Zurich will gain an additional weekly flight. Swiss Airlines will also introduce a new route to Alicante next summer, connecting Geneva – a city previously served only by EasyJet during peak season.
Germany remains another major market for Lufthansa. Several key airlines at Alicante Airport are expanding services to the country. Ryanair, for example, will launch flights to Saarbrücken and Friedrichshafen, both new routes for the airport.
Germany is the second largest international market for Alicante Airport. So far in 2025, almost 932,000 passengers have travelled to and from the country, a 13.6 per cent increase. It is also one of the regions with the most routes for the winter season.
Ryanair and Lufthansa presence
No wonder Ryanair and the Lufthansa Group are keen to keep their presence there, even as Lufthansa cancels over 50 flights at German airports due to high operating costs.
This reduction will affect Düsseldorf, which will see one fewer flight to Alicante during the summer. In Stuttgart, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Cologne, flight numbers remain the same as last season.
The Lufthansa Group emphasised that it has introduced “a large number of new intercontinental routes and new European destinations, as well as numerous frequency increases.”
