By Justin Lee (Singapore)
In line with the general recovery from the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, AENA saw total passenger traffic across its airports in Spain, Northeast Brazil and United Kingdom (London Luton) increase by 52.7% year-on-year to 136.3 million, implying a recovery of 44.4% of its traffic in 2019.
Source: Aena Group 2021 Results Presentation
While London Luton saw a 16.2% decline in passenger traffic year-on-year in 2021, AENA’s airports in Brazil saw a year-on-year increase in passenger traffic by 52.2%. At the airports in Spain which made up the bulk of AENA’s total passenger traffic, traffic increased by 57.7% to reach 120 million passengers, which was equivalent to 43.6% of the 2019 traffic.
A further confirmation of the recovery was displayed when AENA posted a year-on-year increase in its passenger traffic for Q1 2022 of 280.1% to 43.4 million. This also implies a recovery of 71.9% of the traffic in 2019. In Q1 2022, the year-on-year increase in passenger traffic was 359.7% , 508.3% and 26.1% for AENA’s airports in Spain, United Kingdom (London Luton), and Northeast Brazil respectively.
Source: Aena Group Q1 2022 Results Presentation
The recovery for AENA was also reflected in its 2021 financial performance. In 2021, AENA’s total revenue was EUR2.39bn, a 6.7% increase compared to its revenue in 2020. This increase in revenue was largely driven by a 35.1% increase in revenue from aeronautical activities to EUR1.33bn.
Source: Aena Group 2021 Results Presentation
However, revenues from commercial activity in 2021 saw a 23.6% decline year-on-year to EUR799.2mn, largely due to the reduction in minimum annual guarantees (MAG) and fixed rent from the concessionaires which amounted to EUR795mn.
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