Alicante Airport

Alicante Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto de Alicante, Valencian: Aeroport d'Alacant), (IATA: ALC, ICAO: LEAL), originally named El Altet, is the sixth busiest airport in Spain, and the main airport for the Province of Alicante and the Region of Murcia. The airport is situated 9 km (5.6 mi) southwest of Alicante and 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Elche in the municipality of Elche on Mediterranean coast. Up to eighty percent of all passenger flights are international. The largest numbers of passengers arrive from the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands. Popular domestic destinations are Madrid, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona. Both, international and domestic passenger traffic has been increasing significantly in the last decade.

In 2010, Alicante Airport handled 9,382,935 passengers, 74,474 flight operations and 3,113 tonnes of cargo, making it the sixth busiest airport by passenger numbers in Spain, and one of the 50 busiest in Europe. Furthermore, it is the busiest airport in the Valencian Community. The airport is the fourth largest base for low-cost giant Ryanair with 59 destinations served by the airline. The largest number of passengers is carried by Ryanair (3,152,724 passengers in 2010), followed by EasyJet (1,337,350). Air Berlin (620,671) is the distant third.

In March 2011, the New Terminal Area of the airport was opened. All flights arrive and depart from this new terminal. Terminals 1 and 2, which were in service before the opening of the new terminal are now closed.

The New Terminal Area is the only terminal currently in service. Terminals 1 and 2 have been closed since the opening of the new terminal, and their future is unknown.

New Terminal

The new terminal (denoted as Terminal N) was officially opened on 23 March 2011. All flight operations at the airport were moved to this terminal on the following day. The first flight that used the terminal was a Ryanair flight to Memingen.

The terminal has an area of 333,500m², which is more than six times the size of terminals 1 and 2 together. It includes 96 check-in desks, 40 gates, including 15 with airbridges, and 16 baggage reclaim carousels.

The terminal is split into two areas, the processor where the C Gates are held, and the dock where the majority of B Gates are located. Flights withing the Schengen Area use both areas of the terminal while flights to non-Schengen destinations only use the dock. This terminal was constructed to the east of Terminal 1.