Alicante Airport is currently ranked as the sixth busiest airport in Spain in terms of passenger numbers. In 2010 over 9 million passengers were recorded to have passed through Alicante Airport, and over 74,000 flight operations and more than 3,000 tones of cargo were recorded. This airport is the busiest in the Valencia Community, and the 50th busiest airport in Europe. At the end of each year, Alicante Airport has shown an increase in its passenger numbers, with the exception of between the years 2008 and 2009. In the year 2000, just over six million passengers made use of the airport, and this number increased to over seven million by 2002. By 2006, Alicante Airport almost surpassed the nine million mark, which was then reached by the end of 2008. Although passenger numbers dropped slightly in 2009, the airport still handled over nine million passengers during this time.
Alicante Airport handles mainly international flights, since international flights account for approximately eighty percent of the aircraft movement at the airport. International passengers are pre-dominantly from Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. However, there are also many popular local destinations reached from Alicante Airport, such as Madrid, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona. Ryanair handles the largest number of destinations from Alicante Airport. This airport is the fourth largest base for Ryanair, which is a very popular low-cost airline operator. Over two million passengers made use of their services in 2009, flying to areas such as Liverpool, Gothenburg-City, Birmingham, Hahn, Bologna, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted, Seville, Dublin, Glasgow-Prestwick and many more. Another major low-cost airline in operation at Alicante Airport is Easyjet, with just more than a million passengers per year, and destinations such as Belfast-International, Glasgow-International, Manchester and Newcastle upon Tyne. The third largest airline carrier is Air Berlin, handling almost 700,000 passengers per year. Other airline companies found at Alicante Airport include Aer Lingus, Air Europa, Bmibaby, Flybe, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium, Thomson Airways, Transavia, Vueling, Wizz Air, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Spanair.
Alicante Airport was originally named as El Altet, and began its operations in early May, 1967. El Altet was built to replace the older aerodrome La Rabassa, which was used since 1936. At this point in time the airport comprised of a 2,700 meter long runway, and one large passenger terminal.Convair Metropolitan landed the first commercial flight at El Altet Airport, while later on regular connections were made by Aviaco Iberia with Madrid and Barcelona. The airport was an instant success, and passenger numbers increased steadily, reaching over one million by the early 1970's. The higher number of passengers also led to the construction of a new passenger terminal, as well as extensions to the runway in the later 1970's. The runway was extended to a total of three kilometres. Further improvements were made to the airport during the 1990's, including new check-in areas, car parks, a better exit road and larger apron areas. More recently, in 2009, Alicante Airport received a new passenger terminal to facilitate its operations and the ever increasing number of passengers.
