Spanish Airport Guide News

AENA has just announced that Almeria Airport handled 1,198 flights in January which is 29% more than the same time last year. The rise was due to the fact that national flights were up by 21% with new routes including the one connecting Almeria and Seville.

But the increased number of flights did not bring more passengers as the number dropped by 0.1% with 44,058 travelling on commercial flights during January.  Most of the travellers were flying to and from destinations within Spain, with 7,410 flying to destinations mainly within the EU.

Almeria Airport is to improve its security measures by introducing state-of-the-art scanning and surveillance technology at a cost of €8M.

The Spanish airport authority announced that improvements will be made in 2010 which include an enhanced surveillance system with 360º security cameras installed in the extension of the terminal building currently under construction. 29 of these cameras will be installed outside the airport and 17 inside, as well as a further 48 fixed cameras. Almeria Airport’s three different parking areas will also be watched.

More advanced metal detectors are  to be installed at the security gates for passengers seeking to board planes and most importantly a new X-ray system will allow more than 2,400 items of baggage an hour to be scanned.  This is a great improvement on the current system which handles half that amount. The new system passes baggage through five levels of security checks and can detect explosives automatically.

smoke over Almeria area

More than 500 people, including British holidaymakers, had to evacuate their accommodation and move into nearby hotels in the southern Almeria region of Spain last night after wild fires engulfed surrounding forests and scrub land.

Dozens of Spanish firemen and soldiers used three aircraft and five helicopters throughout the night to contain the fires, but residents have not yet been allowed back to their homes. Hopefully the local Guardia police will declare the area safe later today and people will be allowed to return to their homes.

The cause of the fire is unknown, but reports from the Spanish forest fire organisation suggest it may have been a lightening strike. Residents and visitors were forced to move last night into nearby hotels as the fire took hold.

The region is popular with  British ex-pats and holidaymakers who regularly fly into Almeria Airport.  Temperatures in the area regularly hit 40ºC during the summer months, and the nearby town of Mojacar with its whitewashed houses and cobbled streets is very popular with tourists.

It has taken over two and a half years to build and cost over €11,000,000 but phase I of the new departures terminal at Almeria Airport has finally opened with  52 Air Nostrum passengers headed for Barcelona being the first travellers to make use of the new 3,500 square metre terminal on July 1^st.

The original 17 check in desks have been increased to 21 and another six are still to be added in Phase 2 of the terminal’s expansion which is due to be completed by mid 2010.

In May 2009 71,549 passengers used Almeria Airport which is a 28.7% reduction compared to May 2008.  With a number of airlines cancelling routes from this airport over the last year let’s hope the new terminal is worth it.

Hi Dianne,

The only flight which is operating on a winter timetable is Easyjet Almeria to London Gatwick.

Linda

Can you let me know if Easyjet or Ryanair will be using Almeria airport for their winter schedule 2008-2009 from either Luton or Stansted airports in the UK

Dianne Ray