Canary Islands Air Traffic on the Rise
The Canary Islands are experiencing a significant boost in air connectivity, according to the latest figures from Enaire, Spain’s air navigation manager. From January through September 2025, the Canary Islands Control Centre managed a total of 319,197 flights. This represents a robust 6% increase compared to the same period in 2024, underscoring the archipelago’s growing popularity as a travel destination.
Breaking Down the Numbers
A closer look at the statistics reveals strong performance across all flight categories. International flights, a key indicator of tourism health, saw the most dramatic growth, with 152,390 operations—an 8.2% year-on-year increase. Domestic flights within Spain also grew steadily, with 132,959 movements marking a 3% rise. The remaining 33,848 operations were overflights—aircraft passing through Canarian airspace without landing—which increased by 8.4%.
September’s Sustained Growth
The positive trend continued through the month of September. The control centre managed 33,869 flights, a 4.8% increase over September 2024. This monthly breakdown shows 14,826 international flights (+6.1%), 15,249 domestic flights (+3.4%), and 3,894 overflights (+5.9%), demonstrating consistent demand as the islands move into the autumn season.
National Context: Spain Outperforms Europe
This growth is part of a broader national trend. Across Spain, Enaire managed over 1.8 million flights in the first three quarters of 2025, a 4.8% increase from 2024. Spain’s accumulated air traffic growth is outperforming the European average by 1.1 percentage points (3.7%) and shows a remarkable 13.8 percentage point increase compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Nationally, international flights surpassed one million, growing by 5.8%. Overflights, which do not originate or end at a Spanish airport, saw a 6.1% increase to 430,507, while domestic flights saw a slight 0.3% rise to 354,706.
Performance Across Spanish Control Centres
All of Enaire’s control centres recorded significant growth from January to September. Leading the volume was Madrid with 1,009,706 flights (+4.8%), followed by Barcelona with 914,206 (+5.4%). The Canary Islands centre, with its 319,197 flights and 6% growth rate, was among the top performers, alongside Sevilla which saw a 6.6% increase to 429,170 flights. Palma handled 312,090 flights, a 2.5% increase.
September’s National Air Traffic
In September alone, Enaire managed 227,676 flights across Spain, a 3.1% increase from the previous year. Overflights in this period (50,719) grew by 4.4%, international flights (135,792) by 3.4%, and domestic flights (41,165) by 0.5%. While Spain’s September growth was 0.6 points below the European average of 3.7%, it was a substantial 11.1 points higher than the growth rate seen in September 2019.
Every control centre saw an increase in flights managed during September. Sevilla led with a 5.2% increase (50,158 flights), followed by the Canary Islands with a 4.8% increase (33,869 flights). Madrid saw a 4.0% rise (118,116 flights), Barcelona a 2.5% increase (115,346 flights), and Palma a 1.1% increase (44,507 flights).
