Air traffic in Spain grows by 11pc

6 August 2004

MADRID – Any remaining doubts about people’s fear of flying post 9-11 appear to have been firmly dispelled by the latest figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE).

In the first six months of the year the number of plane passengers rose by 11.2 percent over the same period of last year, compared with fractional increases at best for other forms of inter-city transport.

Bus traffic was up by just 0.5 percent and ferries by 0.8 percent, while trains saw a 0.52 percent fall.

In the cities, Metro services gained 4.3 percent more passengers and buses 0.9 percent.

Rail traffic has been hit by a slump in both inter-regional and long distance passengers, both sectors showing a 5.5 percent drop, although this was partly countered by 4.2 percent growth for AVE high speed trains and 1 per cent on suburban services.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news