• Barcelona now stands as the seventh European airport in terms of passenger numbers. The airport has overtaken direct competitors such as London Gatwick, Munich and Rome Fiumicino, making it the fastest growing airport over 40 million passengers in Europe in 2016 (+ 11.2%). Barcelona remains the 5th European city in origin and destination traffic, increasingly closer to the Russian capital

• Over 10% growth in Barcelona-El Prat airport to all markets. The domestic market (+1.2M, +11.4%) is recovering its traffic; the European market (+2.8M, +10.5%) is driving the absolute growth of passenger numbers; whereas the most significant relative growth is recorded by the intercontinental market (+ 500k, + 15.7%). The instability and perception of risk in other Mediterranean markets has diverted holiday traffic to Spain and Italy, a fact that has benefited Barcelona airport among others.

The 12th edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) broke all the previous records and registered its best edition to date. 108,000 visitors from 208 countries attended the world’s largest event of the mobile-phone related industry, 7% more than last year’s edition.

• In summer 2017 airlines offer over 1.3 million extra seats in Barcelona, up 4% on the previous year.

• Vueling moderates its growth. Despite leading growth in absolute numbers, Vueling increases its offer for the summer season only 3%, below the airport summer season growth average. Norwegian grows 21% in capacity with nearly 250,000 extra seats due to the launch of its long-haul routes to the United States. Of particular note is the amazing growth of Eurowings due to the absorption of the routes of other companies in the Lufthansa group, such as Austrian and Swiss Airlines, which are gradually withdrawing their offer at Barcelona airport.

Amazon has decided to set up a centre in Barcelona to assist the SMEs in southern Europe which sell their products through the company’s various websites.
 

Air China will inaugurate the service on the 5th May, its second route to China from Barcelona-El Prat Airport with a direct flight to the economic capital of the country: Shanghai.

Mobile World Congress 2017 closed its doors with a record number of 108,000 visitors, 7% more than last year.

Barcelona has been chosen as the top international city in terms of economic promotion by the Finantial Time’s publication fDi Magazine.

Azores Airlines, one of the SATA group company launches, in March 29, a new route between Barcelona El Prat and Boston (Logan International Airport-US / BOS) with two frequencies per week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, with a technical stop at the airport João Paulo II (PDL) - San Miguel Island - Açores.

The Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world's largest technology event, is back. For the 12th consecutive year it will be held in Barcelona – from 27 February to 2 March 2017 – and once again, all records are expected to be broken, with over 101,000 visitors, the figure reached in the previous edition.