Spain's Aena posts annual profit, sees 2023 passenger traffic at pre-pandemic levels

Spanish airport operator Aena said on Tuesday it expects passenger traffic to return to normal this year after it booked an annual net profit in 2022 for the first time since the pandemic. With the end of COVID-19 restrictions, the number of passengers at Aena's airports gradually recovered last year, approaching pre-pandemic levels in December and surpassing them in January 2023. The company posted a net 2022 profit of E901.5m, compared with a loss of E475.4m in the prior year. While some European airports were affected by staff shortages as tourism rebounded last year, Aena's terminals have run smoothly since the summer, something it attributed to its ability to keep hold of workers during and after the pandemic. For 2022 as a whole, Spanish airport traffic reached 88.5% of 2019 levels. Aena lifted its estimate for 2023 to 99% of 2019 flows while not ruling out topping pre-pandemic numbers this year. The airport operator had previously said it expected a full recovery of traffic only in 2024.<br/>