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caaardiff wrote:Out of Airports 19 mentioned, only 8 are in decline. So you could look at it as most Airports are seeing small increases in passenger traffic. Glass half full situation. Considering Tunisia and Turkey is back on the rise and the other factors mentioned, apart from the Canaries, on the face of it doesn't seem as bad as being made out.
Airports like GRO and REU have likely seen growth because of the lack of availability in other larger resorts when people shifted away from Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt. Unfortunately it's likely those Airports and tourist regions may not keep up with the current shift back to other Countries.
NWADTWE16 wrote:I think the numbers above are in no way showing anything of major concern. Perhaps the Canaries may be in a small decline, they are further out, and nice but not anything you cant see right in the Med.
SCQ83 wrote:It is no surprise Ryanair has announced the closure of TFS, LPA and GRO bases.
leghorn wrote:SCQ83 wrote:It is no surprise Ryanair has announced the closure of TFS, LPA and GRO bases.
Ryanair has realised that you don't base planes in tourist destinations as you need to be flying tourists in to them early in the morning and flying the tourists out in the evening/night not the other way around. LCC base model is incompatible with Tourist Destination Bases.
PatrickZ80 wrote:leghorn wrote:SCQ83 wrote:It is no surprise Ryanair has announced the closure of TFS, LPA and GRO bases.
Ryanair has realised that you don't base planes in tourist destinations as you need to be flying tourists in to them early in the morning and flying the tourists out in the evening/night not the other way around. LCC base model is incompatible with Tourist Destination Bases.
I think most tourists that are flying Ryanair couldn't care less about their flight times as long as the fare is convenient.
seahawk wrote:Well, I think many tourists got tired of the Canaries even selling you dog sheds for a quite high price. I have a few favourite places to stay on each Canary island, but when 3 Star places on Fuerteventura cost more than a 4 Star near Girona, it is no decision at all - especially if you are not going to lay solely on the beach. Canaries were too expensive for the all-inclusive beach folks and offered a too bad experience for those wishing to explore the islands due to overcrowding and the usually friendly people getting tired of too many tourists. SPC is not affected by this and has grown, despite Germania being gone and the number of seats available direct flights from Germany reduced. .
leghorn wrote:SCQ83 wrote:It is no surprise Ryanair has announced the closure of TFS, LPA and GRO bases.
Ryanair has realised that you don't base planes in tourist destinations as you need to be flying tourists in to them early in the morning and flying the tourists out in the evening/night not the other way around. LCC base model is incompatible with Tourist Destination Bases.
SCQ83 wrote:Today AENA released the data for July. Most islands (Baleares and Canarias) are flat or losing passengers after years of booming traffic and record tourism figures. Those numbers could be much worse if domestic and inter-island traffic was not booming due to the recovery of the Spanish economy and an increase in resident fare discount from 50 to 75%.
Fuerteventura (FUE) -9.5% / 504,911
Gran Canaria (LPA) -4.4% / 1,068,941
Lanzarote (ACE) -2.4% / 649,112
Palma de Mallorca (PMI) -0.6% / 4,207,218
Tenerife Sur (TFS) +0.1% / 891,912
Ibiza (IBZ) +0.5% / 1,332,411
La Palma (SPC) +0.6% / 130,745
Menorca (MAH) +0.8% / 638,843
Tenerife Norte (TFN) +2.7% / 541,207
Small airports more dependent on international passengers are also down
Girona (GRO) -5.0% / 294,816
Jerez de la Frontera (XRY) -3.3% / 128,666
Almería (LEI) -1.1% / 134,018
Reus (REU) -0.7% / 193,143
It is no surprise Ryanair has announced the closure of TFS, LPA and GRO bases.
Barcelona and Málaga (the two largest beach airports) are in positive numbers but losing momentum.
Barcelona (BCN) + 3.8% / 5,360,997
Málaga (AGP) + 3.8% / 2,228,460
Inland airports fare much better, with healthy increases. Madrid has had the best month ever for a Spanish airport (shy of 6 million PAX). SCQ has broken for the first time the 300k/month barrier, and BIO the 600k/month.
Madrid (MAD) +7.5% / 5,944,835
Bilbao (BIO) +8.5% / 603,139
Santiago (SCQ) +13.7% / 302,074
Sevilla (SVQ) +20.5% / 641,333
European beach tourism in Spain is going down. Tourists coming back to Turkey or Tunisia, Brexit, the German economy cooling down or climate change (record heat in Northern Europe) could be to blame. How far down could those airports go?
SCQ83 wrote:seahawk wrote:Well, I think many tourists got tired of the Canaries even selling you dog sheds for a quite high price. I have a few favourite places to stay on each Canary island, but when 3 Star places on Fuerteventura cost more than a 4 Star near Girona, it is no decision at all - especially if you are not going to lay solely on the beach. Canaries were too expensive for the all-inclusive beach folks and offered a too bad experience for those wishing to explore the islands due to overcrowding and the usually friendly people getting tired of too many tourists. SPC is not affected by this and has grown, despite Germania being gone and the number of seats available direct flights from Germany reduced. .
From my experience it is actually the other way around.
This year hotels in Canarias are relatively cheap and affordable. Not to mention Canarias itself is quite an affordable destination (e.g. gas price at 1 EUR/litre).
Hotels in Mallorca or the Spanish Mediterranean coast are absolutely overpriced. Comparable hotels in Greek islands or Croatia (not Dubrovnik, Mykonos or Santorini of course) are half the price.
seahawk wrote:Well German tour operators did overplay it this year quite a bit, especially for the areas popular with Germans. Mallorca has some form of cult status and attracts the wealthier customers. You can see that SPC is not affected, as it also caters to different customers than the rest of the Canaries - less price sensitive and more devoted to that destination.
Embajador3 wrote:As usual, you forget to mention other airports whom are still enjoying healthy traffic figures. Including GRX with a 15,1% increase, compared to 2018.
SCQ83 wrote:seahawk wrote:Well German tour operators did overplay it this year quite a bit, especially for the areas popular with Germans. Mallorca has some form of cult status and attracts the wealthier customers. You can see that SPC is not affected, as it also caters to different customers than the rest of the Canaries - less price sensitive and more devoted to that destination.
SPC is a very niche market. But also SPC has lost international traffic
SPC International 21,931 (2019) / 25,922 (2018) / -15.4%
OA260 wrote:Figures no real surprise for the Canaries and expected. These things seem to have trends and as North Africa and Turkey makes a steady come back the Canaries suffer a bit. Of course history tells us that any political or terrorism issues in North Africa and Turkey will turn the tables again. Then you have people that will not travel to North Africa and Turkey so the decline will be more of a re adjustment.
SCQ83 wrote:OA260 wrote:Interestingly, British are more resilient than Germans (no matter Brexit). Some people seem surprised about this, but I think it makes a lot of sense. For many Brits going to the beach is about binge drinking and getting laid. No other place in Europe (not to mention Turkey or Egypt for obvious reasons) can compare to Magaluf in Mallorca or Benidorm in Alicante. While many Germans also like this (google Bierkönig or Megapark Mallorca) in general they are looking for a quieter tourism so Antalya works well too. Also Germans are usually more money-savvy and with the German economy cooling down, every Euro counts.
GibbonUK wrote:Looking at the figures, I wouldn't think that Spain has anything to worry about just yet.
As mentioned already, there are probably varying factors to this, both in terms of money and choice.
As for money, you can't escape that the world is on a little downturn at the moment, with trade-wars and political disputes, growth is slowing . Spain and it's islands are the staple holiday for the northern Europeans escaping for 7 or 14 days of sunshine, and if the Eurozone is on a bit of go slow, spending £800+ / Euro per person may lead to a second thought.
However, you also have to throw in choice, in that the old days of the Spanish 'beano' is not the only thing on offers. People tend now to fly to places because the LCC go there. I will often look at Ryanair's or EJ's route map and pick a destination that is new to me that I would never have given a thought to before .
Also, speaking from my own point of view here in the South East of the UK, in a small space of time over the last couple of years Jet2 have expanded rapidly at Stansted and ergo, so has my choice of destination in Greece, Greek Islands, Spain, Croatia etc. 3 years ago it was Benidorm or bust; now Pula, Split, Antalaya, Reus, Rhodes, etc etc...
Add into this the story in the press of Spanish locals in Granada or Palma becoming anti-tourists, or Palma police fining tourists for buying Ray-bons and Gzucci handbags...one of 2 people may just chose to travel elsewhere!
THY748i wrote:Hasn‘t there been a lot of complaining from citizens about how there were too many tourists these last years? In the end the complete „Airbnb-zation“ of city centres isn‘t a pretty thing and Spain, unless something unexpectedly dramatic were to happen, will remain a top tourism destination.
leghorn wrote:Can I just remind people that weather in Northern Europe has been exceptionally good for the last two years. Offer a German family an open-air Schwimmbad during a heatwave with a grillparty in the evening at home or a trek to the South of Spain at great expense and they'd probably choose not to wander. This was certainly reported in local media about the summer last year.
British Isles didn't enjoy the good weather to the same extent and the British don't have as much disposable income since they decided to shoot themselves in the foot.
GibbonUK wrote:Last year was one of the hottest years on record in the British Isles and it was well documented that the 'staycation' effect allegedly hit the package tour industry's traditional late summer bookings.
JJJ wrote:THY748i wrote:Hasn‘t there been a lot of complaining from citizens about how there were too many tourists these last years? In the end the complete „Airbnb-zation“ of city centres isn‘t a pretty thing and Spain, unless something unexpectedly dramatic were to happen, will remain a top tourism destination.
This. So much.
Get the numbers down, and start working on getting people who spend (and behave, while you're at it) better.
There's only so many people an island like Ibiza can fit, and it's already past breaking point.
leghorn wrote:GibbonUK wrote:Last year was one of the hottest years on record in the British Isles and it was well documented that the 'staycation' effect allegedly hit the package tour industry's traditional late summer bookings.
average temperature of 17.2 degrees during heatwave doesn't stop people booking holidays
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Brit ... _heat_wave
In Northern Europe it was actually as warm as Southern Europe.
pound to euro exchange rates. pound to pretty every currency exchange rates.
SCQ83 wrote:Embajador3 wrote:As usual, you forget to mention other airports whom are still enjoying healthy traffic figures. Including GRX with a 15,1% increase, compared to 2018.
GRX is an "inland" airport. Quite similar to a place like SCQ (although at a smaller scale); a mix of international cultural tourism/city-break and local demand. GRX is quite far from the coast and the Granada coast has little international tourism. In fact SCQ is closer to the sea than GRX.
I haven't mentioned every airport in Spain otherwise I could have talked about VGO where traffic has been collapsing for a while with no end in sight.
Embajador3 wrote:GRX was only an example. LCG is closer to the sea than SCQ and is enjoying a healthy growth too. Of course, you had to mention poor little VGO. An airport that is now loosing passengers due to many factors, but you don't say anything about LCG airport and its apparent success.
Embajador3 wrote:
GRX was only an example. LCG is closer to the sea than SCQ and is enjoying a healthy growth too. Of course, you had to mention poor little VGO. An airport that is now loosing passengers due to many factors, but you don't say anything about LCG airport and its apparent success.
Toinou wrote:Embajador3 wrote:
GRX was only an example. LCG is closer to the sea than SCQ and is enjoying a healthy growth too. Of course, you had to mention poor little VGO. An airport that is now loosing passengers due to many factors, but you don't say anything about LCG airport and its apparent success.
I'm not sure that being closer to the sea make this one a relevant example. The sea in northern Spain is not exactly what makes most tourist come. Temperature issue...
SCQ83 wrote:Embajador3 wrote:GRX was only an example. LCG is closer to the sea than SCQ and is enjoying a healthy growth too. Of course, you had to mention poor little VGO. An airport that is now loosing passengers due to many factors, but you don't say anything about LCG airport and its apparent success.
LCG does not have a "healthy" growth. LCG is growing because of Iberia (partially subsidised) to MAD, Vueling and Volotea (fully subsidised). Not different to VGO growing at double digit rate last year (or two years ago) before crashing into a wall. At this point in time however no carrier (even with healthy subsidies) seem to have any interest to operate in those two airports.
Embajador3 wrote:LCG enjoyed a 10,7% growth compared to 2018. I call that a healthy growth. Your other statements are only your persona views, and if you have proof of that, I ask that you provide a link to back up your claims.
SCQ83 wrote:Embajador3 wrote:LCG enjoyed a 10,7% growth compared to 2018. I call that a healthy growth. Your other statements are only your persona views, and if you have proof of that, I ask that you provide a link to back up your claims.
Those are not my views. You can find plenty of recent articles about subsidies in LCG:
Vueling. August 2018: https://cadenaser.com/emisora/2018/07/3 ... 58100.html
Volotea. December 2018: https://www.laopinioncoruna.es/coruna/2 ... 56818.html
Iberia. July 2019: https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/c ... 6C2992.htm
Everything is subsidised. Once subsidies ran out, flights take off and never return. Which is what has happened in VGO this year. And VGO still subsidies Air Nostrum (with two different agreements which are running out soon).
SCQ83 wrote:Embajador3 wrote:LCG enjoyed a 10,7% growth compared to 2018. I call that a healthy growth. Your other statements are only your persona views, and if you have proof of that, I ask that you provide a link to back up your claims.
Those are not my views. You can find plenty of recent articles about subsidies in LCG:
Vueling. August 2018: https://cadenaser.com/emisora/2018/07/3 ... 58100.html
Volotea. December 2018: https://www.laopinioncoruna.es/coruna/2 ... 56818.html
Iberia. July 2019: https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/c ... 6C2992.htm
Everything is subsidised. Once subsidies ran out, flights take off and never return. Which is what has happened in VGO this year. And VGO still subsidies Air Nostrum (with two different agreements which are running out soon).
GibbonUK wrote:Looking at the figures, I wouldn't think that Spain has anything to worry about just yet.
As mentioned already, there are probably varying factors to this, both in terms of money and choice.
As for money, you can't escape that the world is on a little downturn at the moment, with trade-wars and political disputes, growth is slowing . Spain and it's islands are the staple holiday for the northern Europeans escaping for 7 or 14 days of sunshine, and if the Eurozone is on a bit of go slow, spending £800+ / Euro per person may lead to a second thought.
However, you also have to throw in choice, in that the old days of the Spanish 'beano' is not the only thing on offers. People tend now to fly to places because the LCC go there. I will often look at Ryanair's or EJ's route map and pick a destination that is new to me that I would never have given a thought to before .
Also, speaking from my own point of view here in the South East of the UK, in a small space of time over the last couple of years Jet2 have expanded rapidly at Stansted and ergo, so has my choice of destination in Greece, Greek Islands, Spain, Croatia etc. 3 years ago it was Benidorm or bust; now Pula, Split, Antalaya, Reus, Rhodes, etc etc...
Add into this the story in the press of Spanish locals in Granada or Palma becoming anti-tourists, or Palma police fining tourists for buying Ray-bons and Gzucci handbags...one of 2 people may just chose to travel elsewhere!