The new flight to Shenzhen that was inaugurated from El Prat this week places the Catalan airport as the main connection node between Asia and Spain. At least for a few days, it has equaled Barajas in destinations, with a total of five for each, but Barcelona has had one more route because two different companies fly to Seoul: Asiana and Korean Air.
The difference is, in any case, minimal and in the balance of Madrid weigh Chinese cities that for now are resisting Barcelona: Hong Kong and Shanghai –see graph–. The Catalan capital has one of the best-connected airports in Europe in terms of short and medium-haul flights, but if you look at the set of intercontinental destinations and, above all, routes -measured from the airlines that serve each of the destinies–, the power of Barajas is evident.
From this airport you can fly to 80 destinations outside Europe compared to 47 from El Prat. And as for long-haul routes, there is no comparison: 146 from Madrid to 71 from Barcelona, more than double. This is relevant data because it shows the interest of airlines in flying from these airports to other cities in the world and the potential business they see in it.
As with Asia, the connections with the Middle East are practically at the same level. This season Barcelona has flights to seven airports in the area: Amman, Beirut, Tel Aviv, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and Jeddah, with thirteen routes in total. The Israeli city, with which Jaume Collboni's municipal government has just reestablished institutional relations, stands out as the best-served destination. Six airlines offer flights from El Prat to Tel Aviv (Arkia Israel, Blue Bird Airlines, El Al Israel, Israir, Vueling and Wizzair), and another two (Royal Jordanian and Vueling) to Amman. The rest is only covered by one airline. In the case of Madrid, it has one more destination (Kuwait) and 14 routes altogether.
The offer is also very level in the powerful American market, with the same number of destinations from both airports and just three more routes in favor of Barajas. From here, the abyss begins. Africa appears much better covered from Madrid, especially in terms of routes, and in the Latin American market its dominance is overwhelming.
“The launch of the new flight to Shenzhen is very good news and shows that El Prat continues on the right path in recovery; it is especially relevant since in the intercontinental markets the large hubs have strengthened their leadership”, comments Pere Suau-Sánchez, professor at the UOC and Cranfield University. “But we must not be complacent, this is a long-distance race”, he adds.
Barajas has an advantage in the long-haul business –of great added value and economic booster– and will further boost this segment with Iberia's new commitment to Latin America. The IAG company has announced a 14% growth in activity to Latin America for the next winter season –begins at the end of October– and will exceed 300 weekly flights between its Barajas base and the countries in the area for the first time. To this is added the purchase of Air Europa, still pending the approval of the community authorities, with which Iberia hopes to increase its leadership and consolidate the Madrid airport as the great gateway from Europe to Latin America and vice versa.
As for Barcelona, the only long-haul airline based at the airport is Level, owned by Iberia, in the low-cost sector and with still modest capacity. For this season, the number of flights to Santiago will increase from three to five during November and December, as well as the number of frequencies to Buenos Aires. Other airlines also plan to increase frequencies to intercontinental destinations from 2024 and the new connection with Dallas is pending. Even so, El Prat lacks a long-haul airline of a power comparable to that of other large airports, such as Barajas itself.
And in El Prat fits what fits. The limitation of the runways strains its operation and its possible expansion, one of the objectives of which was to facilitate the attraction of more intercontinental flights, remains on hold. The Madrid airport, on the other hand, has already begun its extension works. The expansion project as a whole will mobilize 2,400 million euros, of which 1,700 million will be allocated to the actions in T4 and its satellite and another 700 million to the new processor and the remodeling of terminals 1, 2 and 3. Meanwhile, the future of Barcelona airport is yet to be decided.
