Spanish airlines hike capacity for summer demand

MADRID—Spanish airlines expect a record summer season and are adding 13 percent more seats from a year ago, confident that consumers will continue to travel despite inflation pressuring their spending, the head of Spain’s airlines industry group said on Tuesday. From the beginning of April to the end of October, the group has scheduled up to 758,000 flights, 9 percent more than in the same period in 2023 with a total capacity of up to 240 million seats. “Everything seems to indicate that we will have record numbers again this summer in terms of demand.

People are traveling more than before despite inflationary tensions,” Javier Gandara, head of the Spanish Airlines Association, told a news conference. Services to the Canary Islands and the southern region of Andalusia, among the top Spanish destinations for summer tourism, will have 14 percent more seats, above the Spanish average, while the cities of Madrid and Barcelona will see 15 percent added compared to a year ago, Gandara added.