Bilbao Airport closes another record year with more than 6,777,000 passengers in 2024
This is news to celebrate, even though it is expected. Bilbao Airport has completed a historic year 2024 in which it has once again surpassed its all-time high in passenger traffic. In the last twelve months, 6,777,267 passengers have passed through the Biscayan terminal, a milestone for La Paloma.
To put the figure in context, it is enough to point out that this is an increase of 7% over the historic figure achieved in 2023, when Bilbao Airport reached 6,336,441 passengers. It is also almost 15% higher than the figure achieved in 2019, when La Paloma reached six million passengers for the first time.
The new routes, the consolidation of destinations and the wide range of connections offered by Bilbao Airport clearly consolidate it as the airport of reference on the Cantabrian coast and as the twelfth aerodrome in the Aena network, ahead of areas with great tourist potential such as Tenerife Norte, Fuerteventura or Menorca.
As regards the type of travel at Bilbao Airport, both domestic and international trips have shown considerable growth. Thus, the number of domestic passengers grew by 3.4% to 3,914,851 passengers. The same is true of international passengers, which increased by 12.3% in 2024, reaching 2,850,827 passengers.
These figures are possible thanks to an upward trend in air operations, with 52,538 landing and take-off movements, 2.1% more than the previous year.
Expansion
All these data suggest the need to expand the Bilbao Airport facilities in order to adapt and size them to future needs. A plan that is already underway and that from the airport operator remarks that “it is already analyzing and, in some cases, has already launched the necessary investments that will be included in Aena’s proposal of the Airport Regulation Document DORA 2027-2031, the investment program of the airport manager, to ensure as it has done so far that the infrastructures are correctly sized for future demand”.
“The sustainable growth in airport, economic and environmental terms of airports contributes to the generation of wealth and employment in the territories they serve. The definition of the needs is, therefore, rigorously technical”, Aena adds.
December
The historic 2024 had its climax with a magnificent December, in which 493,080 passengers were recorded, making it the best December in the history of the infrastructure, with 4.8% more passengers than in the same month of 2023.
In terms of traffic type, domestic traffic grew by 3% compared to December 2023, to 297,521 passengers. International passengers increased by 7.1%, with a total volume of 193,810 passengers.
Operations also showed a positive tone in December. Landing and takeoff movements totaled 3,971, an increase of 5.2% compared to December 2023.