The Statistics Office of the Canary Islands recorded 1.12 million international air passengers in September. According to ISTAC, the number of international arrivals fell by 1.2 per cent compared with the same month last year. The trend varies from island to island.
Tenerife saw a 3.3 per cent fall in the number of international passengers, whilst Gran Canaria bucked this trend and recorded growth of around one per cent. Across the Canary Islands as a whole, just over 1.13 million international passengers arrived in September last year.
The number of flight arrivals actually fell by 10.1 per cent compared with August. Arrivals totalled 11.58 million from January to September. This represented a fall of 0.6 per cent. Tenerife had already recorded fewer international passengers in July, whilst Gran Canaria had already recorded an increase at that time, as shown by the trend in flight arrivals in the Canary Islands over the summer.
Holiday accommodation and flight cancellations in the Canary Islands in September
On Thursday, the official tourism register listed 72,115 holiday accommodation units in the Canary Islands. Together, these provided more than 306,566 guest beds. September was also affected by a software error at British air traffic control affecting flights to the Canary Islands.
The UK is the most important holiday market for the Canary Islands. The software fault therefore caused a number of flight cancellations and delays over two days on routes to and from the islands.
The ISTAC series on international air arrivals began in January 2004. Arrivals in September were still 30.4 per cent higher than this baseline figure of 858,795. Since then, the figures have risen steadily – with the exception of the global pandemic. This has led to mixed reactions in the Canary Islands. Whilst some of the population recognise the associated economic benefits, others are concerned, amongst other things, about the islands and their environment.
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