Airport authorities have expressed satisfaction on the first anniversary of Corvera Murcia International Airport’s inauguration. They noted that, one year after its opening (on 15 January 2019), the airport was operating at just under 90 per cent of its capacity for commercial flights.
Corvera Murcia took over from San Javier as the main civilian airport in the region, and it is the only airport in Spain that Aena (the state-owned airport authority) operates as a franchisee.
In a press release looking back over the past 12 months, Aena reported, “Developing the airport involved a complex and comprehensive work plan comprising more than 200 tasks, with numerous technical and operational procedures that required the coordination of various groups and institutions. As a result of these efforts, the airport has completed its first year of operation without incident and with the highest operational and safety standards.”
The airport (officially known as the “Aeropuerto Internacional Región de Murcia”) topped one million passengers on 26 October 26 and ended 2019 with 1,090,954 travellers. A total of 7,976 landing and take-off operations were registered.
In 2019, the airport was connected by regular flights with five countries and 22 destinations, three of them national (Asturias, Palma de Mallorca and Gran Canaria). This represented a significant change in air traffic trends in Murcia as, since January 2017, the region had not provided flight services to and from other national destinations. Specifically, in 2019, 31,136 passengers travelled on domestic routes.
Of the 19 regular international routes, 11 were linked to the United Kingdom (Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, East Midlands, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, London-Luton, London-Gatwick, London-Southend, London-Stansted and Manchester).
Four routes were operated to and from Norway (Bergen, Oslo, Stavanger and Trondheim); two connected with Belgium (Antwerp and Brussels); and there were one each with Ireland (Dublin) and the Czech Republic (Prague).
These connections were operated by eight companies, including two (Volotea and Binter) that inaugurated their first services in the Murcia region, with operations to Asturias and Gran Canaria, respectively.
In addition, the airport operated commercial and charter flights, as well as tour operator operations, with Ibiza, Berlin and St. Petersburg among the destinations. Since the airport opening, flights have been coordinated with the National Transplant Organisation (ONT), an operation that requires rigorous procedures to be followed.
Corvera Murcia International Airport has extensive and diverse commercial amenities: a total of 10 establishments in an area of more than 1,600 square metres.
The Swiss group Dufry operates the Murcia Duty Free area, and the airport has four top catering establishments: Semba restaurant, Subway snack outlet, Costa Coffee and Food&Goods cafetería and multi-store.
Complementing these dining establishments are the fashion and accessories store Cocoa Bay; premises selling Submarine brand gifts, souvenirs, jewellery and accessories; another specialising in typical Ibérica products; and two WH Smith shops offering magazines and newspapers, books, electronic goods, travel articles, snacks, etc. There are also 18 food and beverage vending machines, and two Euronet ATMs.
Four car rental companies operate at the airport (Goldcar, Europcar, FireFly and Sixt), while Centauro is nearby.
