Spanish Routes Set the Pace at Aalborg Airport
March 2018 continued the growth in Aalborg Airport - with a 4.8 percent improvement compared to March 2017. At the same time, March marked the overlap between the winter's travel program and parts of the summer program. The Spanish holiday destinations, in particular, have had a great start-up in some busy Easter days.
The last part of March 2018 marked the overlap between the winter program and the launch of parts of the summer program for Malaga, Barcelona, Alicante and Turkey, as well as the addition of an additional weekly departure to Oslo. In addition, growth in international traffic contributed to a record-breaking March in Aalborg Airport. All in all, 130,385 traveled to and from the airport in March 2018 against 124,465 in March 2017 - an increase of 4.8 percent.
Easter starts the summer program
In the last week of March 2018, a good part of the summer program was launched on Sunday, March 25th - being the day of the year's first flights to Barcelona, Alicante and Antalya. In addition, on the 26th of March, SAS added an additional weekly departure to Oslo.
- In March 2018 one fully booked flight after another was sent to Amsterdam, Malaga and the Canary Islands, among others. On March 25th, the extra Malaga departures with Norwegian came in, and the routes to Barcelona and Alicante started. With an almost 100 percent cabin factor on all three routes and the prospect of another Malaga departure with Primera Air, the airport's largest Spanish summer program so far looks promising, says CEO of Aalborg Airport Søren Svendsen.
In March 2018 there has been an increase in International traffic of 64.4 percent - corresponding to 44,970 foreign passengers in March 2018 against 27,356 in March 2017.
Lower tariffs can generate growth in domestic traffic
There was a decline in domestic traffic of 12.1 percent in March 2018. Thus, 70,964 domestic passengers traveled in March 2018 against 80,717 in the same month last year.
- The decline in domestic traffic must be seen in the light of the Easter holidays falling in March this year instead of April, which meant less business traffic. There is a prospect for progress in April when airport prices for domestic traffic in Copenhagen are lowered from the 1st of April. This could mean cheaper flights and thus more travelers, says Søren Svendsen.
Charter guests travel by scheduled flight
In March 2018, 14,451 charter guests traveled to and from Aalborg against 16,392 passengers in March 2017. This resulted in a total decline in charter traffic of 11.8 percent.
- We see an increasing tendency for travel agencies to use scheduled flights rather than charter flights, as it also allows airlines to sell flight-only tickets. This applies to companies such as Primera Air and SunExpress, which, among other things, fly for Bravo Tours and Sunweb, respectively. This explains the decline in charter traffic and partly the strong growth in international traffic, Søren Svendsen concludes.