Gran Canaria Airport received it’s 13 millionth passenger journey for 2017 on December 27th, breaking all previous records, exceeding last years record by nearly one million passenger journeys.
The figure, announced by AENA, the Spanish Airport Authority, includes all flights dealt with by the airport, both departures and arrivals, so the Cabildo de Gran Canaria estimates that some 6.5 million individual passengers have travelled through the airport, 70% of whom are thought to have been tourists. This number puts Gran Canaria well on track to surpass last year’s record breaking year, with the president of the Tourist Board, Inés Jiménez, confirming that final figures for 2017 are likely to exceed 4.5 million visitors, both national and international, which would be the highest figure in the island’s history.
The “13 millionth” passenger was Ms Esther Calvo, who arrived to Gran Canaria, accompanied by her partner Daniel Garcia, on a Norwegian airlines flight from Madrid. They were received by Gran Canaria Airport director, Santiago Martínez-Cava, with a bunch of flowers and a round trip ticket to the Island as a gift. The event was also attended by the Spanish Government’s delegate to the the Canary Islands, Mercedes Roldós, and the Communication and Institutional Relations representative of Norwegian airlines, Alfons Claver.
The significant number of passengers recorded this year reflects an upward trajectory, in terms of the number of travelers and ‘operations’ at Gran Canaria Airport, in its more than 80 years of history. 13 million passenger journeys in 2017 consolidates Gran Canaria Airport as ranking sixth nationally in the AENA network for annual traffic volume and the third most important airport in Spain, after Madrid and Barcelona, during the winter season.
