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Date Published: 13/09/2024

Alicante-Elche Airport upgrade takes off

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The first phase of development at Alicante Airport involves building a new taxiway for the aircraft

Alicante-Elche Airport upgrade takes off

After months of deliberations and delays, the long-awaited improvements at the hectic Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport are finally beginning to take shape.

The first phase of the project is now underway, with the construction of a new taxiway for the aircraft. According to Aena, Spain’s airport management company, this addition will reduce wait times both during take-offs and landings as it affords the plane much more space.

Furthermore, Alicante Airport should be able to handle more flights in the future; at the moment, the tight quarters mean that it can only cope with 40 slots per hour.

The new taxiway is expected to be completed by the end of 2027 or early 2028, with a budget of around 17.4 million euros. Eight construction companies are in the running for the project, with prices ranging from 14 to 17.4 million euros. The winning bidder will be announced by the end of 2024, and the project is expected to take 27 months to complete.

But frequent fliers will be happy to hear that this upgrade is just the beginning. The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has announced plans to invest a whopping 600 million euros in the extension of the current El Altet terminal.

This will increase the airport’s passenger capacity to 26 million per year. While a second runway is not currently planned, Puente has not ruled it out for the future.

Alicante-Elche Airport is one of the fastest-growing aerodromes in Spain, with a record 15.7 million passengers in 2023. This year, the airport is on track to surpass that figure, with a 17.2% increase in passengers so far.

In fact, Alicante had the highest growth rate among the top 5 airports in Spain in August, with a 15.3% increase compared to the same month last year.

Despite this, neither Aena nor the airlines themselves believe a second runway is necessary for the airport to meet its future growth needs, as the Minister was at pains to point out earlier this year.

For now, the focus is on upgrading the existing infrastructure to meet the growing demand.

In other news: EU visitors to the UK will need to apply for this travel permit from next year

Image: Actiu

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