Barcelona-El Prat Airport Passes 50,85 Million Passengers, Up 4%
Barcelona-El Prat served 50,85 million passengers through October, 4% more than a year earlier, Aena said. Girona, Reus and Sabadell also reported figures.
Passenger numbers at Barcelona-El Prat Airport reached 50,85 million for the stretch from January to October, a 4% rise on the same months of 2025. Airport operator Aena released the data in a statement on a Thursday, and both Metrópoli Abierta and El Periódico reported it. (The figures below keep the Spanish decimal commas used in those reports.)
October on its own was far quieter in terms of growth. The airport handled 5,2 million travelers that month, only 0,3% more than in October 2025. Most of the year’s gain therefore came before autumn.
Flights abroad make up the bulk of the traffic
Commercial services carried the great majority of October’s travelers. Routes to other countries accounted for 4,1 million people, which is 2,2% above the figure from a year earlier. Domestic flights took 1,2 million.
El Periódico adds that, across the first ten months of the year, the airport ran 315.987 flights, a 3,2% increase. In October alone it managed 32.601 operations.
Freight also climbed. According to the same report, 20.176 tonnes of cargo moved through the airport in October, 5,5% more than a year before. From January to October the volume reached 181.707 tonnes, 10,1% above the equivalent period of 2025.
What Girona, Reus and Sabadell reported
The statement covered other Catalan airports as well.
- Girona-Costa Brava served 169.200 passengers in October and has 1,9 million for the year so far.
- Reus finished October with 153.581 passengers, 5,5% more than in the same month of 2025. Its year-to-date total is 1,4 million, up 7,8%.
- Sabadell recorded 425 passengers in October. Since January it has had 5.203, which is 24,4% more than a year earlier.
Why it matters for travelers in Catalonia
Metrópoli Abierta says the numbers confirm how important international connections are to the Barcelona airport, which has kept growing through the first ten months of 2026. For people who live in the region or fly in and out regularly, that means the airport is busier than it was a year ago, although the monthly pace slowed sharply in October. Aena’s statement does not give a reason for the gap between the 0,3% October change and the 4% for the whole period.
Among the Catalan airports listed, El Prat is the largest by a wide margin. Reus and Girona-Costa Brava come next, with Sabadell the smallest, handling a few hundred passengers a month.
Sources: Metrópoli Abierta, El Periódico
