Aena’s findings have given us a first look at the operator’s ambitions for how much money to put into each airport. Pedro Sánchez announced €1.154 billion during his visit to Elche in September. The corporation has now explained how the money would be used to expand the Miguel Hernández terminal. This shows that the project will be done by 2036. The cash will be split between Airport Regulation Documents (DORA) 3 and 4 over the following ten years. The next plan, which starts in 2027, will get €453 million, and the rest, €701 million, will go to the next plan, which starts in 2032.
These numbers show how big a strategic initiative for Alicante-Elche Airport is and how much it will grow. The Aena Board of Directors actually released their passenger predictions for the next cycle last week. The Alicante airport anticipates an 11.7% increase in passengers over the next five years, reaching 22.3 million. The Alicante terminal ended 2025 with 19.9 million passengers, making it the fifth busiest in Spain by volume. It is now seeing record numbers.
Aena proposes to spend a total of €868.3 million over the next five years. This is “significantly higher” than the present DORA’s €119.9 million. This is mostly because it is seven times bigger. As I said before, half of the money will go to the expansion, and the other half will be used by the operator to make upgrades across the terminal area, such as parking, access roads, and other infrastructure. Aena’s results have given us a first look at the operator’s plans for each airport’s investments. Pedro Sánchez announced €1.154 billion during his visit to Elche in September. The corporation has now explained how the money would be used to expand the Miguel Hernández terminal. This shows that the project will be done by 2036. The cash will be split between Airport Regulation Documents (DORA) 3 and 4 over the following ten years. The next plan, which starts in 2027, will get €453 million, and the rest, €701 million, will go to the next plan, which starts in 2032.
Rates
The public-private operator says that there is no one goal for the investments (referring to the expansion). Instead, they say that the project will make “the airport more efficient, which will lower emissions by shortening turnaround times and letting planes leave the runway sooner.” Aena wants to raise airport fees by an average of 35 cents per passenger each year to pay for this big expenditure. If the incentives are used, the charge will drop to 25 cents per person.
This latter element is one of the things that has made airlines very angry about the fare hike. With this in mind, Alicante Airport comes out looking rather well. Its below-average fare should help it stay competitive with other big airports. The rise, on the other hand, is twice the existing amount, which is between €5.57 and €8.37 per passenger, plus service and security expenses. According to Aena’s official fare guide, the total can be anywhere from €9 to €12 for similar criteria.
The operator says that the terminal’s existing surface area will grow by about 30%. “On the one hand, the processing building needs to be worked on so that the airport can have a new security checkpoint with the newest technology. This will let passengers take liquids and electronics out of their hand luggage, which will make things run more smoothly and speed up processing times.”
Second, it’s important to highlight that the old terminal will be torn down and a new pier for non-Schengen traffic will be erected in that region. New rules for border checks are to blame, and it’s important to remember that British travellers use this path after leaving the EU. A lot of people with British passports go via Miguel Hernández Airport. The numbers for 2025 showed that British passengers are still the largest group of foreign nationals. In fact, one in three passengers that use El Altet Airport’s services comes from or goes to the UK.
Aena also talks on how important it is to give these passengers a better area with more services. The improvements to this region will make it possible for jetways to serve “the new boarding gates.””Access points and parking lots will also be better. Also, improvements to the taxiways on the apron are planned. These will shorten the time it takes for planes to taxi, and a rapid exit taxiway will be built to make sure that both ends of the runway work as efficiently as possible.
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