ARCHIVED - San Javier airport: January passenger traffic down 81% from Jan 2007

Fewer flights at San Javier make it harder for tourists and property owners to reach Murcia

The statistics regarding passenger numbers at Spain’s commercial airports in January have been released this week, and they make sober reading for the authorities at Murcia-San Javier, where traffic continues to be lost despite the facility having been named the best small airport in Europe for 2014 by the Airports Council International.

This is a highly prestigious award, but during the first month of 2015 only 19,154 people had the privilege of using the airport on the shore of the Mar Menor, over 25% fewer than in the same month last year. The San Javier facility continues to lose ground on its larger neighbour in Alicante at an alarming rate, and even at Almería airport there were more passengers last month than at San Javier (almost 25,000).

In comparison it’s interesting to go back a few years to 2007, when traffic at Murcia-San Javier reached its peak. In January of that year the number of passengers at the airport was 102,674, over five times as many as this year: in other words, the airport has effectively lost over 81% of its January business in the last eight years. At the same time, of course, the number of people using Alicante-Elche airport has grown, the airport handling 498,596 passengers during January, an increase of 7.6% on the first month of 2014, and there is no doubt that as Alicante grows a certain amount of its success is due to San Javier being treated as little more than a satellite airport, carrying the “overspill” from Alicante in the busy summer months.

These figures mean that Murcia carried just 3.84% of the traffic which went through Alicante during January.
During the same eight-year period the number of January passengers at Almería airport has fallen by 65%, but it is now busier than Murcia, reversing the situation which existed between 2006 and 2010.

Of course, the main reason for fewer people using San Javier is that there are simply fewer flights being laid on. As things stand at the moment only five routes are being operated at the airport (Gatwick, Stansted, Bristol, Brussels and Madrid), and the number of flights available is limited. This forces passengers flying into and out of the Costa Cálida to search for alternative flights using Alicante-Elche, and has various negative effects on the economy of the Region of Murcia.

The official College of Economists recognized this week that residential tourism is currently one of the most dynamic sectors of the regional economy (alongside agriculture and renewable energy sources), and the lack of flights deters people from travelling to and from their second homes in Spain for short breaks. In addition, of course, the lack of air services could act as a deterrent for anyone who may be considering buying a property in the Mar Menor area and the rest of the Costa Cálida, and considers Alicante is too far from this area to drive.

How these figures might change in the future is not clear. Aena maintain as always that the lack of flights is down to the unwillingness of the airlines to operate routes and negotiations are ongoing with the regional government regarding plans to close the airport down when the new Region of Murcia International Airport at Corvera opens.

Of course, low figures such as these make Corvera less attractive to a potential new concessionary who will be forced to take on existing staff from San Javier without the option to streamline and adjust staffing levels to suit this level of traffic.

The only party who can really resolve that problem is Aena, and if they win the concession themselves then hopefully this will create a platform from which the airlines can be encouraged to operate a few more routes.
Assuming that this eventually happens, a boost can be given to tourism, a service can be provided for residential tourists, and both economic activity and employment can be generated.

Although tourism figures have been positive for the last year and the amount spent by predominantly British tourists continues to grow, low air traffic figures such as these cannot be ignored.

Last month the airport statistics were posted on our facebook page, prompting a flurry of outraged comments from readers who would very much like to fly to San Javier but can´t at the moment, as there are no flights from the airports they habitually use.

But at the end of the day, no comment is really necessary as the figures speak for themselves: 81% down from 2007.  
 

Image: Runway 2 at San Javier airport. Copyright Murcia Today