National
Low cost operators overtake traditional airlines in Spain for the first time
By h.b.
Oct 22, 2008 - 4:57 PM

Low cost airlines have overtaken their traditional counterparts in Spain for the very first time, with foreign arrival numbers for September giving the low cost operators the lion’s share of the market.

There were 5.9 million foreign arrivals at Spanish airports over the month, and 50.2% of them came on a low-cost operator. Numbers of low cost travellers were up 5.3% compared to September last year, while traditional airlines lost 13% in passenger numbers. Load numbers were also higher for the low-cost airlines – at 83.7% compared to 78.2% for the traditional airlines.

Palma de Mallorca was the busiest Spanish airport for low cost flights with 674,000 passengers over the month, followed by Málaga with 376,000 and Barcelona with 360,000.

Most of the travellers were British at 1.1 million, followed by 776,000 Germans and 232,000 Italians.

Meanwhile shares in Spanish cut price operator Vueling soared 30% in trading today after the company moved into profit for the first time, making 14 million € in the first three quarters of the year.