The Government does not see the second runway of the Alicante-Elche airport as a priority in either the short or the medium term.

This was the Executive’s response to a parliamentary question put by Senator Agustín Almodóbar (PP) in the Upper House on Wednesday, who had asked them to comment on the possibility of launching the Master Plan for the Miguel-Hernández airport that allows for programmed growth. with its necessary expansion.

Almodóbar said that he believes that, with their answer, the Government is completely disregarding the tourist interests of the province of Alicante and the Valencian Community.

The Alicante-Elche airport is currently the fifth largest in Spain, having just closed the best year in its history, after breaking the passenger record in 2023, with the movement of 15.7 million.

This was a number that was very nearly achieved in 2019, the year immediately before the pandemic, in which 15,048,240 passengers were processed. Forecasts suggest that these figures could be exceeded again this year as Ryanair has announced an increase in routes, while Jet2Holidays plans to launch a base from the Alicante airport during the spring.

For this reason, the Generalitat Valenciana has been urging the expansion of the airport so as not to supress the province as a tourist destination. One of the objectives they are working on is a direct flight with the United States. Both the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, and the Minister of Tourism, Nuria Montes, have been demanding that the Executive schedule this key investment for the tourism growth of the province.

According to the Government’s response, the Alicante-Elche airport “has infrastructure with sufficient capacity and competitive prices that allow efficient operation for airlines.”

Agustín Almodóbar said that “an expansion of the airport is essential” for the tourism development of the province and for maintaining competitiveness. “This 2024, a growth of over 13 percent in seats is expected,” which is why he stressed that the airport needs this infrastructure. “Although the new terminal was recently built, the second runway is essential, because, with it, it will be possible to target other markets such as the United States,” he said. Along these lines, he stressed that “there are airports that, thanks to similar expansions, have been able to look for other markets.”