The travel business seems to have no ceiling. A record tourist demand, lower energy costs and the incorporation of the batch of airports in Brazil has led Aena to close its best winter. The airport manager has doubled profits between January and March, up to 261 million euros, after having transported 74.6 million passengers throughout its network. Revenue amounted to 1,233 million, 20.1% more than the first three months of 2023.
At airports in Spain, the increase in travelers has been 13.2%, up to 60.8 million passengers. With these figures and the airline's forecast for the summer season of scheduling 8% more seats, the listed company chaired by Maurici Lucena hopes to get closer to 300 million passengers transported.
All lines of business are increasing. Aeronautical revenues were 632.3 million euros, 21% more than in 2023, while commercial revenues, a sector in which the company has strongly invested, have reached 402.2 million euros, with an increase of 19.4% compared to the first quarter of 2023.
This positive trend led Aena to update its strategic plan until 2026, after exceeding all the planned objectives already in 2023. According to this update, presented in March, the goal of reaching 300 million passengers in Spain is brought forward to 2025. Regarding gross operating profit (Ebitda), expected to grow more than 20% until 2026 compared to 2023.
Similarly, the airport manager plans to increase commercial income per passenger by 32% in 2026 compared to 2019 compared to the 12% expected when the plan was presented in 2022, and points out that commercial income could grow by 48% in 2026 compared to to 2019.
