Alicante-Elche airport, province of Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana

Alicante Elche airport is the gateway to the Costa Blanca and the Costa Cálida

The sixth busiest airport in Spain serves the coastline of Alicante and Murcia

Alicante Elche airport, previously known simply as Alicante airport, is located 8 kilometres south-west of the city and provincial capital of Alicante, and the name change implemented in July 2013 reflects the fact that it is situated within the boundaries of the municipality of Elche, Alicante Province.

Alicante Elche airport serves the whole of the Costa Blanca as well as the inland area of the province of Alicante and the Costa Cálida in the neighbouring Region of Murcia, and due to the popularity of these destinations it has become the sixth busiest in the whole of Spain in terms of passenger numbers.

In 2014 the annual passenger total topped ten million for the first time.

As the gateway for international visitors to south-eastern Spain the airport is a vital part of the economy of the province of Alicante, one of the most dynamic on the country’s Mediterranean coast. 80% of all flights into and out of Alicante Elche Airport are international, with the majority of passengers traditionally travelling to and from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.

History of Alicante (Elche) airport

The beginnings of the airport now known as Alicante Elche Airport were, to say the least, humble. A military air base had been created during the Civil War at Rabasa in the north of the city, and was later used sporadically by commercial aviation. It was officially opened to international traffic in July 1951, and by 1958 carried 8,552 passengers.

But large aircraft were unable to land here, and the facilities soon proved insufficient for the demand: BEA preferred to set up international flights from London to Valencia rather than using the unimpressive Alicante facilities. This meant a long bus journey from Valencia to the Costa Blanca for the first wave of tourists, and it soon became imperative for Alicante to have its own international airport.

The location for the new airport was chosen on a piece of flat land near the villages of El Altet and Torrellano, which in the past had been used for postal flights to and from Algeria and Senegal by French companies. The new airport opened in May 1967 with the capacity to carry a million passengers a year, revolutionizing at a stroke the tourist industry of the Costa Blanca.

Within five years passenger numbers had risen above the original capacity to 1.25 million, and a new terminal building for international flights was built in the early 1970s, leading to further growth: two million used the airport in 1978, and the three-million mark was reached ten years later.

By 1996 the capacity had risen to nine million per year, and a period of further extension and amplification began. A new control tower and a new terminal building have since been built, and currently the new building is in full use alongside the unoccupied old terminal.

Facilities at Alicante Elche airport

The new terminal building at Alicante (Elche) airport is a fully modern facility matching the standards of the finest in Europe in many respects, and is the public face of a facility which offers all the elements required by international airlines. From a passenger point of view, departures are on the second floor and there are six machines where check-in can be performed and boarding cards printed, as well as the traditional check-in desks for those carrying more than just hand luggage. The departures lounge features a large duty-free shopping area and many boutiques and eateries.

Arrivals are on the ground floor, where passport control and security checks are generally quick in comparison with other large airports. Various car hire companies have offices on the ground floor of the building.

Flight information screens are clearly visible throughout the airport, there is full access for the disabled and the wi-fi connection is free to all users. In addition, there are cashpoint machines, defibrillators and a first aid service and a host of other facilities.

Alicante Elche Airport flight updates

For those needing to know if incoming or outgoing flights are on time a simple-to-use real-time information service is provided by Aena on www.aena-aeropuertos.es.  

Transport

There are regular bus services between Alicante (Elche) airport and the towns and cities of Alicante, Torrellano, Elche, Benidorm, Calpe, Santa Pola, Guardamar del Segura, Torrevieja and Murcia, and the airport is also connected to the metropolitan tram service in the city of Alicante. This provides connections to the Costa Blanca towns and resorts of El Campello, La Vila Joiosa, Benidorm, L'Alfàs del Pi, Altea, Calp, Benissa, Gata, Teulada and Denia.

There is also a low-cost coach option operating between Alicante (Elche) airport and Torrevieja town centre.
Despite this range of public transport options, many passengers still prefer the convenience of travelling to the airport by car. Access is simple and well-signposted from the A-7 motorway, and adequate long- and short-stay facilities are provided, although walk from the long-stay area can be an uncomfortable one in the heat of summer.

Alicante airport parking

Not all air traffic at Alicante Elche Airport consists of holiday visitors to Spain, though, and due to the large proportion of users who are residential tourists there are a number of private companies very close to the airport which offer a long-term park-and-ride service for those going back to their native country for a visit. These services offer a competitively priced and efficient alternative to the long-stay facility within the airport itself, and in general, are a friendlier and more personal option for residents or part-time residents.

There are several airport parking operators at Elicante Elche airport, offering short-term parking and long-term parking.

One such operator is Lowcost Parking, which is the nearest private car park to the airport. Click here for further details: Lowcost Parking Alicante-Elche airport parking.