Alicante airport expansion

Written by Inmoinvestments | 27 March 2011

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he new Terminal 3 was officially opened last Wednesday by Spain's Minister of Development, Jose Blanco going into service the following day.
He was accompanied at the opening ceremony by the Minister of Health, Leire Pajin, the president of the Generalitat, Francisco Camps, the President of AENA, Juan Lema, and the mayors of Alicante and Elche, Sonia Castedo and Alejandro Soler.

Also present were members of the Consell, as well as many public institutions, regional, provincial and local representatives of business organisations and airlines.

The new terminal is capable of carrying 20 million passengers a year and with its opening El Altet has now established itself as the premier airport in the whole of the province. Terminal 3 has an area of 333,500 m2, 98 check in desks, 26 gates, each with passport control, 16 baggage carousels and an automated baggage and screening system (SATE) that will process 7,880 bags per hour.

On Thursday, it's first full day of service, the Airport dealt with 143 scheduled flights, 73 arrivals and 70 departures, of which 54 were national and 89 international.

With an investment of 628 million euros the new Alicante terminal will guarantee about 14,000 jobs. Over the last five years 7,500 employees have participated in its construction.

In addressing the audience Blanco stressed the central government's commitment to the transport infrastructure in the province confirming that the AVE link between Alicante and Madrid would arrive in the city next year.

Alicante mayor Sonia Castedo said “The new Altet represents a giant step forward in confirming this province as a place of opportunity. Terminal 3 will help to attract many new corporation's to the region, ahead of other Spanish and European cities .”

Meanwhile the mayor of Benidorm, Agustín Navarro, said that this was also a great day for his city. “The expansion will mean a tremendous boost to us all. First, because an improvement to the services will see us attract more tourists and secondly, because improving the image of the airport is also improving the image of Benidorm. El Altet is the gateway to our city.”

About sixty percent of passengers arriving at El Altet travel to Benidorm. The airport expansion will therefore allow for new flights and airlines coming to the region from emerging tourism market.
Navarro continued “This can be the ideal kick start for hoteliers who are working hard to consolidate the recovery following the economic crisis. They can now mount an assault on the international tourist market.