canary islands summer 2026 flight seats drop

Canary Islands See 2.5% Drop in Summer Flight Seats

Summer Flight Capacity Dips Slightly in the Canaries

The Airlines Association (ALA) has reported a quantified 2.5% decrease in the number of airline seats scheduled for the Canary Islands for the summer 2026 season. This follows a very steep increase the previous year. Across Spain as a whole, the figure rises to a 5.7% increase, reaching 260 million seats compared to a year ago, despite challenges stemming from the conflict in the Middle East.

Overall Traffic Growth and Cautious Optimism

The airline industry body has indicated that, so far this year, air traffic has shown an upward trend with 65.63 million cumulative passengers, representing a 3.2% increase compared to the same period last year. The President of ALA, Javier Gándara, stated that airlines are facing the summer with optimism, “although we must analyse the figures with caution given rising fuel costs and macroeconomic uncertainty.”

These figures represent the capacity scheduled by the airlines, so it will be necessary to wait until the end of the season to see how many of these seats translate into actual passengers.

Regional Variations Across Spanish Airports

By airport, Gándara noted a degree of heterogeneity between most regions. The airports leading the increases in scheduled seats are Almería (+22%), Jerez (+15%), and Alicante (+14%). By major regions, Andalusia grows by 9.8% and the Balearic Islands by 2.6%, while the Canaries records a 2.5% decline due to the very high increase seen in 2025. For the major hubs, programming at Madrid-Barajas is up 8% and at Barcelona-El Prat by 7.6%.

New EU Border System Poses Summer Challenge

Gándara also addressed the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES) for travellers from outside the Schengen territory, which requires the registration of a series of passenger data. In this context, the ALA president has asked for this system—which became mandatory this April—to be implemented with adequate flexibility so that tourists do not perceive it as endless queues or a risk of missing their flights.

This new process will affect this summer, particularly, Spanish airports where UK citizens are the primary market. Therefore, he stressed that they are working with the Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for borders, and with Aena (the Spanish airport operator), “so that both signage and airport assistants help passengers know what they have to do.”

“We hope it impacts this summer as little as possible,” he added.

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